On the evening of August 26, 2023, a burst of gunfire at the McDonnell Avenue Apartments in Biloxi, Mississippi, left 20-year-old Damari Daniels dead. Police found Daniels, a Black male, in the apartment complex parking lot with multiple gunshot wounds; he was pronounced dead at the scene. A 22-year-old man, Shadavion Smith, was also shot and taken to a New Orleans hospital with serious injuries.

Within 48 hours investigators used surveillance footage and witness statements to identify suspects; on August 28 a traffic stop on the Interstate 10 bridge produced two arrests. Nineteen-year-old Rashod Omrion Jerome Harris of Biloxi and 17-year-old Harry Lavern Hillard of Gulfport were taken into custody and initially charged with capital murder and aggravated assault. Police also sought an additional person for accessory after the fact to capital murder.

Victim family members submitted a letter to the court expressing profound grief and a hope the defendants seek redemption. The judge commented on the tragic toll of gun violence among young people in the community. Does anyone have information that could shed more light on what happened that night?