Gulfport police cleared in killing of man who was stabbing a victim while on FaceTime
Editor’s note: Viewer discretion is advised due to the graphic natures of some of the pictures from the scene of the shooting.
A Harrison County grand jury has cleared Gulfport police officers of criminal wrongdoing in the Feb. 11, 2021, fatal shooting of a man who was holding a woman hostage while he repeatedly stabbed and vowed to kill her while on a FaceTime call.
The grand jury issued its ruling on Monday.
When the Sun Herald went to the scene of the domestic violence incident, family members invited the journalist inside as the family worked to clear the blood-soaked kitchen, and living room area along with the bathroom where Jonathan D’on Turner, 39, first started attacking the woman at her home on Davis Street.
Cemon Mack, who identified the victim as her daughter, D’quarius Eckford, said at the scene she was just glad her daughter had survived.
When authorities found her, she had stab wounds on her face, head, arms and neck. She was hospitalized for treatments for some time after the attack.
Police responded to the red brick home where Eckford lived after receiving a 911 call around 1:40 a.m. the morning of the attack and police response.
When Gulfport police officers arrived at the scene, they learned Turner was holding Eckford hostage and hollering at police that he would not surrender and return to prison.
Despite repeated attempts by Gulfport police officers for Turner to drop his weapon, he refused, ultimately leading to his death inside the home after police fired shots at him.
The following morning, the woman’s family gathered at Eckford’s home with buckets, cleaning supplies, gloves and mops to clean up the blood-soaked home where Eckford nearly lost her life.
When her mother first saw her at the hospital, she described her daughter as being battered, bleeding and fighting for her life.
Not long after visiting her daughter, Mack said, she learned Turner had called her daughter’s best friend on FaceTime, saying, “’Hey, look what I’m doing to her” while repeatedly stabbing the victim.
At the time of the shooting, Eckford’s mother said she felt like Gulfport police could have done more early on to prevent the bloody assault if further action had been taken against Turner on other alleged attacks before.
Her daughter had a history of domestic violence incidents involving Turner, such as one incident when the woman’s mother said Turner bit off a portion of Eckford’s face.
A picture of the injury shared with the Sun Herald shows that a portion of Eckford’s flesh on her chin is gone due to that attack.
At the time of the fatal police shooting, Mack said her family had been dealing with Turner’s domestic violence attacks against Eckford but said he always managed to get out of jail only to return to assault Eckford again and again.
At one point during the cleanup after the attack and fatal shooting, Mack picked up a shirt covered in blood and threw it in an outdoor trashcan the family had brought in from outside to throw away the bloody items as well as shell casings found inside the home.
For Eckford’s mother and family, knowing Eckford survived the attack is still hard to believe.
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This story was originally published August 29, 2022 at 4:47 PM.
