A teenager who had escaped a Jackson detention center multiple times has been brought to justice for his role in a 2021 homicide.
On Wednesday, Tayshon Holmes pleaded guilty to second-degree homicide in connection with the death of Bill Calvin, Jr. As reported by The Natchez Democrat, Holmes was 15 at the time of the killing and Calvin was 19.
Authorities found Calvin’s body in a wooded area of Adams County on October 25, 2021, and later determined that Holmes had shot him in the head.
While locked up in the Henley-Young-Patton Juvenile Justice Center, Holmes teamed up with Robert Earl Smith and Jashon Jones to come up with an escape plan that initially played out in June 2023. After being captured and returned to police custody, the same trio broke out of the jail once again this past January.
While on the run, the three suspects stole a blue 2007 Jeep Liberty from the detention center’s parking lot before carjacking two additional vehicles and shooting a woman in the neck. All three were caught by police in Adams County just under a week after their second escape.
In addition to his admission of guilt in the second-degree homicide case, the teenager fessed up to his role in the carjacking of an unidentified Natchez woman outside of a local church.
Holmes was handed a 40-year sentence with 30 years to serve on the homicide charge and a decade for carjacking. Those stints will run consecutively.
