Man fatally shot by Gulfport police used FaceTime during stabbing attack, family says
Cemon Mack is just glad her daughter is alive.
In the early-morning hours Thursday, she learned her daughter had been repeatedly stabbed by her boyfriend at their red brick home on David Street.
Her daughter, D’quarius Eckford, 36, had various stab wounds to the face, head, arm and neck.
The assault ended shortly after Gulfport police officers got to the home and fatally shot the suspect.
In a news release, police said the 911 call came in at 1:40 a.m. as a report of domestic dispute.
When police got to the scene, they realized it was a hostage situation and tried to talk to the suspect before fatally shooting him.
“He kept hollering he wasn’t going back to jail,” Mack said.
The suspect — identified by Harrison County Coroner Brian Switzer as Jonathan Turner, 39 — died in the home.
Suspect used FaceTime during attack, mother said
Inside the home Thursday morning, the blood of the suspect and victim was splattered all over, from the bathroom where the girl’s mother said the the assault began, to the kitchen, living room and near a back door where the suspect fell to the floor and died.
“I got a call saying I need to come here because they think somebody died,” Mack said, but then she got a call to go to the hospital.
There, she said, she saw her daughter battered, bleeding and fighting for her life. She is still hospitalized, but is expected to recover.
Since then, Mack learned Turner had called her daughter’s best friend on FaceTime during the attack. The friend called Mack in a panic, she said.
“He actually FaceTimed her best friend and said, ‘Hey, look what I’m doing to her,’” Mack said. “He was stabbing her. My daughter said she just couldn’t get away.”
A history of domestic assaults
Though Gulfport police ended the assault by shooting Turner, the victim’s mother said she felt police should have done more earlier to prevent the attack from happening in the first place.
Turner, she said, had a history of domestic violence, including an incident last year where he bit off a portion of Eckford’s face.
The family showed the Sun Herald a picture of Eckford’s face after that assault. A portion of the woman’s flesh on her chin was gone.
Gulfport police, her family said, had responded to repeated calls about domestic violence involving Turner at the home.
“All I can say is I wish they had done something a while back,” her mother said. “This man was on paper. He almost bit her face off. The system failed her. This wasn’t supposed to happen.”
In the past year or so, the family said, Turner had been released from prison after serving time.
For three years, the family said they have been dealing with incidents involving Turner allegedly attacking Eckford during domestic assaults.
In addition, they said, Turner had other run-ins with authorities, but kept getting released.
Cleaning up after the assault
After daybreak Thursday, the family fought through anguish while they tried to clean the home before Eckford’s return.
Her great aunt, Lois Tops, and others were among those who used Clorox on the floors and mops and paper to wash away the blood.
The family used brooms to wipe up shattered glass from a front screened-in door that broke after police got to the scene.
A cousin found a shell casing from the shooting and showed it to the family.
The victim’s mother, still upset and angered over what happened, picked up a blood-filled shirt and tossed it in the large outdoor garbage can now sitting in the living room.
“You know, police have done been out here plenty of times,” she said, shaking her head.
Gulfport police reported the fatal shooting to the Harrison County District Attorney’s Office and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations.
MBI is conducting an independent investigation.
The fatal shooting involving law enforcement is the second to occur this year. The last one occurred in January outside the Harrison County courthouse.
This story was originally published February 11, 2021 at 7:12 AM.
