Teens were trying to steal weed from 16-year-old when she was shot, Biloxi police say
Five teens arrested on capital murder charges in the killing of 16-year-old Madison Harris told police they orchestrated a robbery in order to steal marijuana from her, a Biloxi investigator said in his arrest report.
Just before 2 p.m. Monday, police responded after a 911 caller said a juvenile was having medical problems before hanging up the phone, Investigator Larry Barnum said in his report.
Officers arrived to the home on Rustwood Drive and talked to Paultavius White, who said Harris was suffering from a “medical episode.” First responders from AMR and the Biloxi Fire Department found her suffering from a gunshot wound to the hip area. She was taken to Merit Health Hospital, where she died on the operating table.
When Barnum arrived, White told him he was visiting Harris when two sisters, Yakeshia and Willow Blackmon, ages 15 and 17, arrived at the home with two male teens in an attempt to rob Harris.
A third teen, 15-year-old Jasmine Joy-Sade Kelley, also was at the home.
White and Harris were in a rear bedroom when the two male teens came to the window pointing a gun and told White to open the window. White said he recognized the boy with the firearm, whose nickname was “Teflon.”
The window was broken and would not open completely. That’s when the sisters entered the bedroom, and “Teflon” handed the gun to Yakeshia. White then grabbed her in an attempt to take the gun, and during the fight the gun discharged and hit Harris, Barnum said. The sisters ran from the home.
White told Barnum that Kelley was not supposed to be at the home, and that he believed Kelley set up Harris to get robbed by the sisters. White found “Teflon’s” Facebook profile, and investigators determined it belonged to 17-year-old Jaquez Porter, whom White also identified in a lineup.
Surveillance footage and neighbors said a red sedan with front-end damage had left the scene after the shooting, and officers found a red Toyota Camry on Agincourt Avenue matching that description. The two people inside the car were Dequarius McCormick and 17-year-old Jarvis Cook.
Barnum also found that a Ring doorbell captured video of Yakeshia, Willow, Cook and Porter entering the home and leaving after the shooting, with White chasing them.
Police later arrested Yakeshia, Willow, Cook, Porter and Kelley, charging each of them with capital murder.
All five teens admitted to the robbery, Barnum said. Yakeshia admitted taking the gun through the window, while Porter admitted giving it to her. Kelley also admitted going to the home in order to relay information to the others.
Cook, who was out on bond on a 2019 aggravated assault charge in Gulfport, was being held without bond. Justice Court Judge Albert Fountain initially set bond for the other four teens at $1 million each.
Harrison County Prosecuting Attorney Herman Cox asked that the bonds be revoked when the five teenagers had initial appearances Wednesday in the basement of the Harrison County jail. Fountain agreed, sending the teenagers back to their jail cells.
None of the teens are eligible for the death penalty because of their age. They would instead face maximum sentences of life in prison without parole.
Four of the five teenagers requested court-appointed attorneys. of life in prison. Attorney Michael Crosby of Gulfport is representing Jaquez Porter.
This story was originally published February 26, 2020 at 1:49 PM.
