The fourth suspect in the recent homicide of University of Southern Mississippi football player Marcus “MJ” Daniels Jr. has been denied bond on a capital murder charge, a week after the other three suspects in the case faced that same penalty.
During an initial appearance on June 21, Judge Gay Polk-Payton denied bond for 16-year-old Nytavion Shaw while setting bond at $30,000 for a charge of conspiracy to commit armed carjacking. Because bond was denied for the murder charge, Shaw will remain in jail even if the bond for the carjacking charge is posted.
Shaw was taken into custody at approximately 11:30 p.m. June 20 by officers from the Hattiesburg Police Department. He was booked into the Forrest County Correctional Facility and charged with the two aforementioned crimes.
Daniels’ murder occurred at approximately 9 p.m. June 11 at Ivy Row Apartments in the 6300 block of U.S. 49 in Hattiesburg, at which point police where immediately dispatched to the scene. Upon arriving, officers found Daniels in his car with a gunshot wound.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Three suspects were taken into custody on June 14 and charged as follows:
- Orlando May, 18, of Hattiesburg, was charged with one count of capital murder, one count of attempted carjacking, one count of felony eluding and two counts of grand larceny auto. No information was immediately available on the bond amounts – if any – on the felony eluding and grand larceny auto charges.
- Allen Marcus Gardner, 17, of Houston, Texas, was charged as an adult with one count of capital murder and one count of attempted carjacking.
- Samir Green, 16, of Hattiesburg, was charged as an adult with one count of capital murder and one count of attempted carjacking.
All three were booked into the Forrest County Correctional Facility.
During an initial appearance on June 17, municipal court judge Brian Bledsoe denied bonds for all three suspects on their capital murder charges. Bledsoe set bond at $100,000 each for the suspects on the charges of attempted armed carjacking, but because bond was denied for the murder charges – as in Shaw’s case – they will remain in jail even if the bond for the carjacking charges is posted.
Staff from The Pine Belt News and other outlets were not allowed into the courtroom for the June 17 appearance, as Bledsoe closed the court to media but allowed a limited number of the suspects' family members to attend.
Daniels’ family also was not allowed in the courtroom. No reason was immediately given for that closure.
Court was open for Shaw’s initial appearance.
Plea hearings and sentences for each of the suspects are expected at a later date.
Daniels was a starting defensive back for the Golden Eagles, where he had started 12 games this past season. The George County High School alum spent the first two years of his college career at Ole Miss before transferring to USM.
Anyone with additional information regarding the incident is asked to call Hattiesburg police at (601) 545-4971 or Metro Crime Stoppers by dialing **Tips. Anonymous tips also can be submitted at www.p3tips.com.
Crime Stoppers offers cash rewards for information leading to felony arrests.
