New evidence has surfaced in the murder case of a Jackson State student showing that one of the suspects might not have even been in the capital city when the shooting took place.
Police initially arrested Joshua Brown, a student-athlete at Jones County Junior College, on Oct. 19. Brown was charged with killing Jackson State junior Jaylen Burns at an on-campus apartment complex the Sunday after the university’s Homecoming. A second suspect, Jamison Kelly, Jr., was later taken into custody for accessory after the fact.
Since then, WLBT-TV has attained footage of Brown being over 90 miles south about a half hour after the shooting took place, leading some to question whether he was actually involved in the killing.
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 located 89 miles away from Jackson State’s campus, typically making for an hour and a half drive.
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.”
Buckley added that he wants Brown to be released from jail immediately and the charges dismissed. Law enforcement did not provide any updates when asked by SuperTalk Mississippi News about the status of Brown possibly being let free.
Brown is also accused of driving his black Mustang to Jackson to commit the crime, but according to Buckley, his player’s Mustang had been totaled several weeks before and he instead had been using a truck.
