On the afternoon of May 19, 2017, 19-year-old Daiquarrius Pounds was found fatally shot on Shonda Circle in Tupelo, Mississippi. Police responded to reports of shots fired and discovered Pounds’ body at the scene. He had been a former Tupelo High School football player and his death affected the local community.

Investigators quickly focused on his 16-year-old friend, Keithan Griffin, who surrendered at the scene and was taken into custody. The case had an earlier connection between the two: in December 2016, a shooting at Theron Nichols Park left Griffin paralyzed, and Pounds was among seven people arrested then on a conspiracy to commit aggravated assault charge. Reports say Pounds had been helping Griffin with daily tasks after the injury and that he had taken Griffin to a barbershop the day he was killed.

Griffin was originally charged with murder; later proceedings included a guilty plea to culpable negligence manslaughter as part of a plea agreement. The defense said the gun discharged accidentally while the friends were reportedly playing with it; witnesses described Griffin as remorseful at the scene. The judge considered the family’s feelings at sentencing and imposed five years in prison. Does anyone have additional observations or information about Pounds’ life or the events leading up to that day?