Nineteen-year-old Alexis McLaurin was killed late one August night in Gulfport, Mississippi, after a single bullet struck her while she was visiting a friend’s apartment in the Bayou View neighborhood. Known as Big Lex, she had plans to become a certified nursing assistant and later a registered nurse. She worked at Wendy’s with her mother, Alfreda Sullivan, and graduated from Gulfport High School in 2022.

Police say two 15-year-old boys, Kavion Dakari Hannibal and Desean Curtis Cooper, were reportedly mishandling a firearm elsewhere in the apartment when it discharged and the bullet struck Alexis, who was in another room. Both teenagers were taken into custody and charged with manslaughter, each held on a $1 million bond. Alexis is survived by her mother and five siblings and is remembered by friends as popular and caring.

Did anyone know Alexis or have information about that night at the Kahler Street apartment?