The man accused of killing a Jackson State University student has been released from jail after evidence surfaced of him possibly being nearly 100 miles away from the scene at the time of the shooting.
Joshua Brown was freed from the Raymond Detention Center on Friday evening as the status of the charges pressed against him is unknown at this time. Brown, a football player at Jones County Community College, was originally arrested on Oct. 19 and charged with the killing of Jackson State student Jaylen Burns.
In the aftermath of Brown’s arrest, WLBT-TV attained footage of him being over 90 miles south of the capital city about a half hour after the shooting was reported to have taken place, leading some to question if the 19-year-old could have been involved.
According to the video footage and witness testimonials, Brown was seen in the drive-through of the Krispy Kreme in Hattiesburg around 10 p.m. on Oct. 17 when the shooting was first reported by local media at around 9:30 p.m. The restaurant is about an hour and a half drive from Jackson State’s campus.
Additional video footage revealed by the TV station showed Brown stopping at a Texaco gas station in Columbia at 7:30 p.m. before heading to a nearby grocery store. Cameras on the campus of Jones County Junior College later captured Brown walking on the Ellisville campus with grocery bags in hand at around 10:30 p.m.
Football coaches at the community college have also come out arguing for Jones’ innocence. Jones is a sophomore defensive back for the Panthers.
“Josh Brown is a sophomore in our program here. This is his third semester. He’s set to graduate in December, and he has a 3.06 GPA. Josh has never been an issue on the field or off the field,” head coach Steve Buckley told WLBT. “I know he was walking with two of our football players. He actually had gone to Walmart that afternoon in Columbia, and they helped him unload his groceries for his dorm room that night.”
Brown was also accused of driving his black Mustang to Jackson to commit the crime, a vehicle that Buckley said Brown could not have used since it had been totaled several weeks before.
As for the status of Jamison Kelly, Jr., a suspect accused of accessory after the fact, it is unclear if his charges will stick after the newfound evidence in favor of Brown.
