A former award-winning Petal teacher facing multiple charges relating to child sex crimes was found dead in his home on Tuesday.
Petal police received a call around 12:30 p.m. from the Dove Hollow neighborhood. A male caller reportedly told law enforcement that he saw a man lying on the back porch of a neighboring home after hearing a gunshot. When authorities arrived at the scene, they found the man, identified as Tyler Shows, lying dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Shows, who was once given an “Oscar of Teaching” by the Milken Institute, previously taught fifth-grade math at Petal Upper Elementary School before being charged in May 2024 with two counts of touching a child for lustful purposes and dissemination of sexually oriented material to a minor.
After bonding out at $125,000 and being free for over a year, the 35-year-old was arrested again in late July and charged with three counts of child exploitation.
Shows was accused of using alcohol and vapes to groom over a dozen students before resigning from his position as a teacher in March 2024. He was also found to be in possession of sexually explicit videos involving children and is accused of showing one of the students an illicit photograph.
Shows pleaded not guilty to the latest round of charges and was given a $90,000 bond, though a motion to revoke his bond was later filed by prosecutors. He was ordered to wear an ankle monitor and prohibited from having any contact with minors or any of his alleged victims. The ex-educator was set to stand trial in November.
