Tatanisha ’Nene’ Berry, 30, was found dead from a gunshot wound in a room at the America’s Best Value Inn on St. Paul Street in Meridian, Mississippi, in the early morning of January 13, 2020. Officers responding to a call at about 6:30 a.m. also discovered another man at the scene who had been injured.

A 33-year-old man, James Alexander Starks, turned himself in to authorities that morning at about 7:45 a.m. He was identified as Berry’s estranged boyfriend. Starks had recently been charged with domestic violence on January 9 and with telephone harassment on January 10, events that indicate escalating conflict in the days before the fatal shooting. Starks was charged with second-degree murder in Berry’s death and aggravated assault for the injured man’s wounds; he later pleaded guilty and received a 40-year prison term for second-degree murder, plus a suspended 10-year sentence for aggravated assault. The district attorney said the sentence would provide closure for Berry’s family without a trial.

If anyone knew Tatanisha, her movements that night, or has information about the events at the motel, please share what is known.