On Monday night, January 9, deputies arrested Marquez Griffin, 25, of Clarksdale, Mississippi and charged him with two counts of murder and aggravated assault for the deaths of two children, a one-year-old girl and nine-year-old boy.
The 25-year-old man was arrested and accused of shooting and killing two children and then holding a third child hostage at gunpoint during a standoff with police.
The Coahoma County Sheriff’s Office wrote that they were called by a person who said that children had been shot at the Summit Garden Apartment Complex located in Jonestown, Mississippi, which is about 65 miles from Memphis, Tennessee.
Officers arrived at the scene and confronted Griffin, who was holding a child hostage at gunpoint.
The sheriff’s deputies talked with Griffin, and he released the child and dropped his gun. Officers immediately detained him and arrested him.
After he was detained, the officers searched the home, and were shocked to find two children who had been shot before officers arrived.
One of the children was pronounced dead at the scene, and police rushed the other child to a nearby hospital where the child was declared dead.
One of the victims was a one-year-old baby girl, Averi Jones. Her devastated grandmother, Melrose Haile, spoke to the media about the tragedy and provided a few details.
Haile said her daughter, the child’s mother told her that the little girl was asleep when Griffin put a pillow over her tiny head and shot her. No motive was given.
The grandmother said that Averi’s mother told her that she and Griffin were “friends” and that several other children were present in the house at the time of the shootings.
The distraught grandmother wondered what kind of “friend” could do such a thing.
Police detained Griffin at the Adult Detention Center in Coahoma County.
The sheriff’s office said Griffin’s motive is unclear and further details have not been released. The case is under investigation.
