3 enter pleas on accessory charges in killing of Biloxi police officer ‘Mac’ McKeithen
Three Coast men pleaded guilty Tuesday in Circuit Court for their roles in assisting the man charged with capital murder in the May 2019 shooting death of Biloxi Police Officer Robert “Mac” McKeithen.
Joshua Michael Kovach, 22, and Wanya Toquest Atkinson, 21, both pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to capital murder before Judge Christopher Schmidt.
Kovach and Atkinson said they helped the alleged gunman, Darian Atkinson, with a change of clothes after the May 2019 ambush-style shooting of McKeithen.
Dalenetez Latavian Brice, 21, pleaded guilty to a charge of hindering prosecution, telling the judge that he lied to law enforcement when they asked if he knew the shooter or had been around him in the aftermath the slaying.
All three men met up with Darian Atkinson at his mother’s home in Biloxi after the shooting.
All three will face sentencing Sept. 8.
Another of Atkison’s brothers, Davian Atkinson, is still facing prosecution on a charge of accessory after the fact to capital murder. He has admitted he gave his brother a ride to Wiggins after the killing and allowed him to use his cellphone.
Another man charged as an accessory, Andrew Anderson Sullivan, 19, of Gulfport, waived a grand jury investigation last year and pleaded guilty to a bill of information charging him as an accessory.
Accessory after the fact to capital murder carries a maximum sentence of 20 years and up to $10,000 in fines.
A change of clothes
Kovach, Sullivan and Wanya Atkinson admitted giving Darian Atkinson a change of clothes after the shooting to help him disguise himself to avoid capture.
After the shooting, Darian Atkinson met his brothers at their mother’s home, which had had surveillance cameras mounted inside and outside.
In surveillance video, a car with four people inside was shown pulling up at the home, where Darian Atkinson walks up and gets his change of clothes out of the car’s trunk.
The men surround Atkinson in a semi-circle, according to previous testimony, while Darian Atkinson changed his clothes.
Davian Atkinson admitted he gave his younger brother a ride to Wiggins after the killing, and allowed his brother to use his cellphone.
All of the suspects said they recognized Darian Atkinson as the suspect in the shooting when photos were released shortly after McKeithen’s death.
All of the men charged as accessories except Kovach have remained jailed since their arrests in the days after the homicide.
The killing
According to investigators, Darian Atkinson walked 8 miles from a home in Gulport to the Billoxi Police Department with one goal in mind — to kill a police officer.
Darian Atkinson was taken into custody after a nearly 24-hour manhunt. He was captured in Wiggins after an off-duty Biloxi police officer spotted him walking down a road and called local authorities to pick him up.
Surveillance footage at the police department showed Darian Atkinson within arm’s length of McKeithen when he started shooting, an investigator said in previous testimony.
The shooter fired nine rounds, with three of the bullets hitting McKeithen’s bulletproof vest, another grazing his head and another hitting him in the body.
McKeithen was on duty and had just returned to the police station because of a flat tire.
Darian Atkinson is awaiting trial on a capital murder charge. The trial is set to begin Sept. 21.
His attorneys plan to argue an insanity defense are pushing to have the death penalty off the table as a possible sentence for Atkinson if he’s convicted.
This story was originally published May 19, 2020 at 10:21 AM.
