A pair of Canton men will spend a combined 35 years in prison for killing a man and hiding his body in a ditch.
On Christmas Eve in 2023, Canton police officers responded to a report of a Black male lying in a ditch. Witnesses told officers at the scene that two Black males got out of a car, pulled a body from the trunk, and moved it into a ditch on the side of the road. Officers identified the body as 24-year-old Levor Taylor.
When speaking with Taylor’s roommate, Calvin Jones, 49, they were told that Taylor had been in a physical altercation with Calvin Prisley, 50, the day before and Prisley had shot Taylor. Jones then admitted to helping hide Taylor’s body in the ditch on the following day.
“Our hearts go out to the victim’s family in this matter. We hope that the two guilty pleas in this matter will give the family some type of closure,” Madison and Rankin County District Attorney Bubba Bramlett stated. “We would also like to thank the citizens of Canton who saw something that didn’t look right and immediately notified law enforcement. Our residents are able to see and hear so much more than the police, and because of that, they are an essential tool in combating violent crime. We need more civilians looking out for each other and their community and cooperating with law enforcement to see real change in our higher crime areas throughout the district.”
Prisley pled guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to serve 25 years behind bars without the possibility of parole. Jones pled guilty to accessory after the fact to murder and was sentenced to serve 10 in prison.
