On the morning of February 23, 2017, Olletta F. Jones, 45, of Newton, Mississippi, was found dead on a Robinsonville street after being shot multiple times. Deputies from the Tunica County Sheriff’s Office responded just before 5:15 a.m. and discovered her body outside the driver’s side of a car parked on the Casino Strip. A witness said a car alarm woke them and they saw a man and woman talking near the rear of the vehicle; the witness reported seeing the woman walk to the driver’s side and attempt to get in before seeing three flashes from the man’s hand as the woman fell to the ground.

Her boyfriend, 33-year-old Joseph Earl Bland of Robinsonville, was at the scene. Investigators found three spent .45 caliber shell casings and recovered a semi-automatic pistol from the back seat; gunshot residue was later found on Bland’s hands. Bland was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. At trial he testified he acted in self-defense, saying Jones fired an empty chamber at him first before he wrestled the gun away and shot her; a Tunica County jury found him guilty of first-degree murder and the Mississippi Supreme Court later affirmed the conviction on appeal.

Did anyone in the Robinsonville area witness the events that preceded the shooting or know more about Jones and Bland’s relationship?