In the early morning hours of a January day in Jonestown, Mississippi, one-year-old Averi Jones was fatally shot at the Summit Garden Apartments. Deputies responded to a call about a child having been shot around 2 a.m. and encountered 25-year-old Marquez Griffin, described as a friend of Averi’s mother, who was reportedly holding another child at gunpoint. An off-duty deputy who lived nearby first responded after hearing the call on the radio; after negotiations Griffin released the child, surrendered a weapon, and was taken into custody.

Inside the apartment investigators found Averi and a nine-year-old boy with gunshot wounds. The boy was pronounced dead at the scene; Averi was transported to a hospital in Clarksdale where she later died. Averi’s grandmother, Melrose Haile, said the child had been asleep when she was shot and alleged Griffin placed a pillow over Averi’s head before shooting her. Griffin was charged with two counts of murder and two counts of aggravated assault; a motive was not immediately known.

If anyone has information about what happened that night or knew Averi and her family, please come forward with tips.