Tips, new evidence lead to arrest in 2022 murder of MS Coast lawn care business owner

Martha Sanchez
·1 min read
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Police charged a 31-year-old man on Wednesday with first degree murder in a case that left a Mississippi Coast lawn care business owner dead in 2022.

Gulfport Police arrested Jarvis Dante Daniels on Wednesday, according to a news release. He faces one count of first degree murder and one count of shooting into an occupied dwelling.

The arrest came after police first responded to a shooting that killed Kelvin Simmons, the 47-year-old lawn care business owner, in August 2022.

Police found Simmons with multiple gunshot wounds around 7:21 p.m. on Aug. 29 of that year in the the 3000 block of Audubon Drive, according to the news release.

Detectives learned Simmons had been hired mow the lawn when he was shot, according to the release. The suspect, now identified as Daniels, fled the scene after the shooting, police said.

Daniels has been incarcerated since September 2022 for aggravated assault, Gulfport Police Sgt. Jason Ducre said.

That charge came from a separate case. Tips from the community and new evidence led detectives to charge Daniels in the homicide case this week, Ducre said.

He did not say what evidence had connected Daniels to the shooting.

But the arrest, Ducre said, “shows the persistence of detectives and the passion the community has. They really stepped up.”