The number of suspects taken into custody is up to six after two people, including an expectant mother, were killed on the campus of Heidelberg High School following the football team’s homecoming game on Friday.
Jasper County Sheriff Randy Johnson told WDAM on Wednesday that Jaylen Tyreqne Gammage, 19, was arrested and charged with accessory after the fact and tampering with physical evidence. A minor, whose name is not being released at this time, was also arrested.
Gammage and the minor join four others behind bars: Tylar Jarrod Goodloe, 18; Damarin Starks, 19; Jadarius Quartez Page, 19; and Jabari Deshaun Collins, 19. Goodloe was charged with two counts of capital murder and possession of a weapon on educational grounds. Starks was charged with accessory after the fact and tampering with evidence, while Page and Collins were each charged with accessory after the fact.
Gunfire erupted after the football game against Mize High School with two people found dead, one reportedly on the baseball field and the other near the bleachers. A third person was injured in the incident but died Tuesday from “non-gunshot-related injuries,” the local TV station reported.
The deceased were identified as Chris Newell, 35; Mikeia McCray, 28; and Cayus Stevens, 25. McCray was pregnant at the time, according to law enforcement.
Heidelberg wasn’t the only school to be shaken by shootings over the weekend. In Rolling Fork, a shooting injured one on the campus of South Delta High School, and at a downtown block party following Leland High School’s homecoming game, six were killed and at least 10 injured. Suspects have been taken into custody in both of those cases.
The Mississippi High School Activities Association, the league that all of the state’s public and some private schools participate in, issued a memo Monday urging members to cancel on-campus tailgating events for the remainder of the season.
“I highly recommend at this time there be no tailgates on school property,” MHSAA executive director Rickey Neaves said. “All these events seem to stem from tailgates, so we recommend from advice from our attorney that we stop having tailgates on campus.”
