On June 3, 2026, Virginia Carol Barnett-Blair, 71, and her husband Billy Blair, 74, were found fatally shot inside their home on W.L. Blair Road in Mendenhall, Mississippi. Concerned family members who could not reach the couple requested a welfare check; deputies arriving at the residence encountered signs of a possible burglary and were fired upon, with one deputy wounded in the foot.

The shooter barricaded himself inside for nearly six hours. He was later identified as 17-year-old Cordarius Laray Hobbs. After negotiating efforts and an attempted surrender that did not occur, Hobbs fled the house under gunfire, was shot and injured by a Mississippi Highway Patrol trooper, and was apprehended in woods behind the home. Special response teams then entered and located the victims.

Hobbs has been charged as an adult with two counts of capital murder, armed robbery, burglary, and multiple counts of aggravated assault, including against law enforcement and people over 65, and was denied bond. The couple had been active in the community through their local tire business. Does anyone have information about the Blairs, their business, or the events that day?