On the evening of February 27, 2017, 25-year-old Deverick Lee Johnson was found in the street in Long Beach, Mississippi, with a gunshot wound after police responded to a reported shooting around 7:40 p.m. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators identified three people in connection with the killing. James Wilson McDowell, 28, was sought as the primary suspect; he evaded capture initially and engaged in a two-hour standoff with Gulfport police SWAT at a Hewes Avenue residence the following day before surrendering and being taken into custody. Michael Anthony Taylor, 29, of Long Beach, and Charity Roxanne McDowell, 29, of Gulfport, were arrested and charged with accessory after the fact to murder, while James McDowell was charged with murder and booked into the Harrison County Jail.

Anyone with information about Johnson, the dispute over the stolen gun and money, or the events that night is asked to come forward.