Two children killed in Coahoma County
Two children have been shot and killed in Coahoma County about 75 minutes south of Memphis early Monday morning.
The Coahoma County Sheriff's department received a call around 2 a.m. that a child had been shot in an apartment complex in Jonestown, Mississippi, the department said in a press release posted on Facebook. When officers arrived, an off-duty deputy as well as sheriff's deputies made contact with a man who was holding the child at gunpoint, the statement said.
The man was eventually convinced to drop his weapon and the child was taken to safety and he was taken into custody.
After he was taken into custody, officers discovered a nine-year old girl and a one-year-old boy who had been shot prior to the department's arrival. One child was pronounced dead at the scene while the other later died at a hospital in Clarksdale.
The Sheriff's Department identified the man as Marquez Griffin, 25. According to the press release, Griffin recently moved back to Mississippi from Arlington, Texas, and has been charged with two counts of murder and two counts of aggravated assault.
Investigators said they did not know a cause for the shootings.
Coahoma County is about 80 miles south of Southaven. The county seat is Clarksdale.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Two children killed in Coahoma County
