Jamel Mel Jones, 37, was killed in the parking lot of the Amber Apartments in D’Iberville, Mississippi, on the evening of January 31, 2015. He sustained fatal gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene in the apartment complex that has a Biloxi address but lies in D’Iberville’s jurisdiction.

Witnesses reported hearing several gunshots and saw a shooter flee in a white Ford Explorer; a neighbor gave police a description of the shooter and the vehicle’s license plate. Deputies from Harrison County, with D’Iberville police, stopped and detained Marquis Saunders of the Bronx on Mississippi 67 near D’Iberville High School. Prosecutors said Saunders was dating Jones’s sister-in-law and that arguments about alleged infidelity involving the sister-in-law and another person prompted the violence. Testimony at trial included that Saunders wore a 5.11 Tactical shirt during the incident and that gunshot residue was found on both his hands.

A Harrison County jury convicted Marquis Saunders of murder; the judge sentenced him to life in prison. He was also convicted of taking a motor vehicle and received a concurrent five-year term.