2 men released from custody after initial arrest in the death of a Mississippi college student
Nov 13, 2023, 5:06 PM
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Two men who were arrested and charged in the death of a college student in Mississippi have been released from custody.
Joshua Brown, 19, was released Friday from the Hinds County Detention Center after initially being held on a murder charge in the killing of 21-year-old Jaylen Burns, a student at Jackson State University. Surveillance footage obtained by WLBT-TV appeared to show Brown out of town when Burns was shot and killed.
Then on Monday, Jamison Kelly Jr., who was arrested on suspicion of accessory to murder after the fact, was released from jail after Hinds County Judge James Bell said there wasn’t enough probable cause to charge him.
“He was on the ground when the shots took place. We don’t have evidence that Kelly knew (someone) with him picked up a gun or fired a gun, or evidence that (the shot) that hit Mr. Burns,” the news station reported Bell saying. “It fails to meet the minimum standard.”
Jerry Campbell, Kelly’s attorney said the charges against his client were not dismissed and could be “brought back up through a grand jury indictment.” It was not clear Monday whether the charges against Brown had been dismissed.
The Oct. 15 shooting of Burns happened at an apartment complex on the Jackson State campus in Mississippi’s capital city. Jackson State University said Burns was an industrial technology major from Chicago.
Brown is a student at Jones College in Ellisville, about 85 miles (136 kilometers) away from Jackson.
