Grand jury indicts 4 accused of helping teen after Biloxi police officer’s fatal shooting
A Harrison County grand jury has issued indictments against four men accused of trying to help Darian Twan Atkinson escape after the ambush-style shooting death of Biloxi police officer Robert “Mack” McKeithen.
In December, a grand jury indicted 19-year-old Atkinson on a charge of capital murder in the May 6 shooting death in the police station parking lot on Porter Avenue.
A grand jury has now issued indictments against Atkinson’s brothers, Wanya Toquest Atkinson, 20, and Davian Atkinson, 21, along with Joshua Michael Kovach, 21, and Dalentez Latavian Brice, 20, all of Biloxi.
After reviewing evidence in the case, the grand jury indicted each of the four on a charge of accessory after the fact to capital murder and a second charge of hindering prosecution.
A fifth man, Andre Sullivan, 18, of Biloxi, has already pleaded guilty to a bill of information charging him with accessory after the fact to capital murder. He is cooperating with authorities.
All five men are accused of trying to help Darian Atkinson avoid arrest, and they were initially arrested on charges of accessory after the fact to capital murder.
All but Kovach, who was served his indictment Friday, have remained jailed since their arrests in the days after the homicide.
The killing
Darian Atkinson is accused of walking 8 miles from Gulfport to the Biloxi Police Department to kill a police officer.
After a nearly 24-hour manhunt, he was taken into custody after an off-duty Biloxi officer spotted him walking down a road in Wiggins.
Video surveillance footage showed the shooter within arm’s length of McKeithen when he opened fire, an investigator has said in testimony during Darian Atkinson’s court appearance.
The shooter fired nine rounds, the investigator has said, with at least three bullets hitting McKeithen’s bulletproof vest , another grazing his head and another hitting him the body.
This story was originally published January 6, 2020 at 1:45 PM.
