Thirty-year-old Meridian Police Department officer Kennis Croom was fatally shot on the evening of June 9, 2022, while responding to a domestic violence call at a residence on 51st Avenue in Meridian, Mississippi. Croom, the first officer on scene, encountered a volatile situation; shots were fired and he was found mortally wounded when backup arrived.

A woman inside the home, identified as Brittany Jones, was also discovered dead and pronounced shortly after. A manhunt followed for the suspect, identified as 31-year-old Dante Marquez Bender, who was taken into custody the next morning at a gas station in Choctaw County by a U.S. Marshals Service task force. Reports state Bender had been terminated from another police department months earlier.

Bender was charged with capital murder in the death of Officer Croom and murder in the death of Brittany Jones; he later admitted to the killings and said he had been under the influence of alcohol. Does anyone have information about the events leading up to that June 9 call or knew Officer Croom or Brittany Jones?