‘I am angry.’ Slain Biloxi police officer’s wife addresses 3 suspects at prison sentencing.
Three Coast men are headed to prison for their roles in assisting capital murder suspect Darian Atkinson in his attempt to escape arrest after the May 2019 ambush-style killing of Biloxi police Officer Robert “Mac” McKeithen.
Judge Christoper Schmidt imposed the sentences Monday afternoon.
Wanya Toquest Atkinson, 23, Davian Lewanika Atkinson, 24, and Andre Anderson Sullivan, 20, pleaded guilty last year to a charge of accessory after the fact to capital murder.
Sullivan also had pleaded guilty to an additional unrelated charge of armed robbery for taking part in a December 2018 armed robbery at Grand Lido Lane in Gulfport.
A fourth suspect, Joshua Michael Kovach, 24, was set for sentencing on an accessory charge Monday, but it was reset for Tuesday morning. The delay was due to transportation issues to get Kovach to court from the Hancock County jail. The other suspects are being held in the Harrison County jail.
Before imposing the sentences, Assistant District Attorney Ian Baker read a statement to the suspects on behalf of McKeithen’s wife, Pam McKeithen.
“Robert sacrificed his life for the citizens of Biloxi, for his family, for his friends and for you,” she said. “I was very, very angry at everyone in the beginning. I am still angry but now for different reasons.
“I am angry that you all had no idea what you were getting yourself into that night. You had no idea the magnitude of trouble that you would bring upon yourself dealing with Darian Atkinson. He made a choice to involve you all. I appreciate all of you making the right choice now — accepting responsibility for your part.”
Pam McKeithen encouraged the three men to take their time behind bars to think about what they had done and eventually forgive themselves for their actions.
“You will earn my forgiveness by completing your GED, not committing any further crimes and learning a trade while incarcerated,” she said. “You will still have a productive life once you serve your sentence.”
The maximum sentence on an accessory charge is up to 20 years in prison.
Two of the defendants, Davian Atkinson and Sullivan, apologized for their actions before sentencing. Here’s a look at the sentences:
- Wanya Atkinson was sentenced to 20 years in prison, with 10 years suspended and ten years to serve, a $2,000 fine, with $1,000 suspended and $1,000 left to pay, and 5 years under post-release supervision. Wanya Atkinson called his brother, Davian Atkinson, about Darian Atkinson being the alleged shooter and then met up with them and the other co-defendants. The suspects met a Biloxi home, where the Atkinson brothers’ parents lived. Wanya Atkinson did not tell authorities he recognized brother Darian Atkinson as the alleged shooter from his pictures in the media and on social media.
- Andre Sullivan was sentenced to 20 years in prison, 5 years post-release supervision and fined $2,000. In addition, the judge sentenced Sullivan to 15 years for armed robbery in Gulfport. In the armed robbery case, Sullivan and others are accused of taking nude pictures of women, sharing them on dating sites and then robbing customers who paid to have sex with them. His attorney pleaded for a lesser sentence, noting his client was young at the time of the crimes and had a bad habit of picking the wrong people to hang out with.
- Davian Atkinson was sentenced to 20 years in prison, with 5 years suspended and 15 years to serve, a $2,000 fine and 5 years of post-release supervision. Davian Atkinson was educated and had a full-time job at a lumber yard at the time of McKeithen’s killing. His attorney said he helped brother Darian Atkinson because he loved his brother. Davian Atkinson, his attorney said, felt like Darian Atkinson suffered from mental illness, including schizophrenia. Davian Atkinson also met the shooter at his parent’s home and later helped move weapons out of his parent’s house before the police getting there. He refused to agree with prosecutors to testify against Darian Atkinson at trial.
A fifth suspect, Dalentez Latavion Brice, 23, was sentenced in February 2021 on a charge of hindering prosecution for lying to authorities about knowing Darian Atkinson and meeting with him in Biloxi after the killing. The judge ordered him to serve 15 years in prison, suspending seven years and leaving him seven years to serve. In addition, Brice is serving additional time on other state charges.
A plan to kill
According to investigators, Darian Atkinson had a pre-conceived plan to kill a law enforcement officer.
On the night of McKeithen’s slaying, authorities said Darian Atkinson had walked 8 miles from Gulfport to the Biloxi police department with one goal in mind — to kill a police officer.
The shooting, dubbed an ambush-style slaying by authorities, occurred in the parking lot outside the Police Department.
Authorities took Darian Atkinson into custody after a 24-hour manhunt that ended when an off-duty Biloxi police officer spotted Darian Atkinson in Wiggins and called the local agency to make the arrest.
Camera footage captured slaying
Surveillance footage from the Biloxi police department showed Darian Atkinson within arm’s length of McKeithen when the shooting occurred.
The gunman fired nine rounds, with three bullets hitting McKeithen’s bulletproof vest, another grazing his head, and another hitting him in the body.
McKeithen had just returned to the police department on Porter Avenue because of a flat tire at the time of his slaying. McKeithen was a beloved father and family man, mentor and dedicated law enforcement officer, having served 24 years at the Biloxi police department.
Meanwhile, his alleged killer is still awaiting trial.
Darian Atkinson’s trial date has not yet been set. The case is on hold pending the results of a second round of psychiatric evaluations on him.
His attorneys are planning an insanity defense.
If convicted of capital murder, he could face a sentence of life in prison without parole or death.
In her statement Monday, Pam McKeithen also offered thanks.
“I want to thank everyone that took part in the investigation from beginning to end and still ongoing,” she said. “I pray for their safety as they continue to protect and serve. This was a multi-agency effort extending from Gulfport to Biloxi, Wiggins, Stone County, and the state of Mississippi. All efforts, no matter how small, my family is grateful for.”
