On January 1, 2025, a triple homicide at Clark’s gas station in State Line, Mississippi, left Jason Thornton, 54, dead alongside 60-year-old Lester Campbell and 54-year-old clerk Rhonda Denson. Investigators say a masked gunman waited for the store to open, shot Campbell outside, then shot Thornton near the front entrance, and finally forced into an office where Denson had barricaded herself and was killed.

The slaying was first treated as a robbery but detectives later noted details that suggested a more personal motive. On January 9, 2025, 37-year-old Drexler Dwight Johnson of Leakesville was arrested and initially charged with accessory after the fact to capital murder; those charges were subsequently upgraded to three counts of capital murder and one count of possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.

Anyone who knew Jason Thornton or who has information about what happened at the State Line Clark’s on New Year’s morning is asked to come forward.