One of the suspects in the recent murder of University of Southern Mississippi football player Marcus “MJ” Daniels was denied bond for a second time during a court appearance which featured testimony from a Hattiesburg Police Department officer who responded to the scene on the night of that crime.
On July 12, municipal court judge Mary Moore Conville denied bond for 16-year-old Samir Green of Hattiesburg on his capital murder charge. Moore also withheld a $100,000 bond on a charge of attempted carjacking for Green, who is being charged as an adult.
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 were immediately dispatched to the scene. Upon arriving, officers found Daniels in his car with a gunshot wound.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Hattiesburg detective Chandra Daniels provided testimony during Green’s appearance, saying she and other officers found Daniels in the driver’s seat of his Dodge Charger, where he had been shot in the back of his head near his neck. Police found one bullet hole on the passenger’s side of the car and another on the driver’s side, along with a 9-millimeter shell casing near the passenger’s side.
Chandra Daniels said a witness at the scene told police she had seen four men following her near her apartment shortly before the shooting.
Including Green, four suspects have been charged in MJ Daniels’ murder, as follows:
- Green, who was taken into custody on June 14 and charged with one count of capital murder and one count of attempted carjacking;
- Orlando May, 18, of Hattiesburg, who was taken into custody on June 14 and charged with one count of capital murder, one count of attempted carjacking, one count of felony eluding and two counts of grand larceny auto;
- Allen Marcus Gardner, 17, of Houston, Texas, who was taken into custody on June 14 and charged as an adult with one count of capital murder and one count of attempted carjacking; and
- Nytavion Shaw, 16, who was taken into custody on June 20 and charged as an adult with one count of capital murder and one count of conspiracy to commit armed carjacking.
All four suspects were booked into the Forrest County Correctional Facility, where they currently are being held.
During an initial appearance on June 17, municipal court judge Brian Bledsoe denied bond for May, Gardner and Green on their respective capital murder charges. On June 21, municipal court judge Gay Polk-Payton denied bond for Shaw on his capital murder charge.
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.
MJ Daniels was a starting defensive back for the Golden Eagles, for which he started 12 games last season. The George County High School alum spent the first two years of his college career at Ole Miss before transferring to Southern Miss.
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.
