GALLMAN, Miss. — Family and friends are reeling from shock and horror after authorities said they’d found the bodies of a missing Mississippi family who were brutally murdered inexplicably.
Law enforcement officials stated they have retrieved the bodies of Atira Hill, Laterry Smith and son Jaidon Hill, 7. The mother, stepfather and boy vanished last week. All three were shot to death.
“We went to bed last night still praying they would be brought home safely, but unfortunately, that did not happen,” said Vinson Jenkins, Hill’s cousin. “To my knowledge, we don’t know why anybody would want to do any harm to them.”
Authorities are still trying to piece together a motive behind the murders.
When the family first disappeared, relatives were hoping it was a simple missing persons case on their hands.
The family was last seen driving in their car on Friday. An investigation was launched when their vehicle was later found flipped over and on fire. Bloody clothes belonging to the victims were discovered next in a gas station Dumpster. Soon thereafter, the bodies were located overnight in a wooded area, Copiah County Sheriff Harold Jones said Tuesday. They had been shot to death.
“I don’t know how anyone could be so callous and cruel to do this — take a life, especially the life of a child who hurt no one and didn’t deserve what he got,” said Angela Ashford, another family member.
Authorities have announced a break in the case. They have arrested Timothy Burns, 42, who in custody on suspicion of arson, Jones said. Burns is also a person of interest in connection to the killings, according to the sheriff. He was being held at the jail in Copiah County, southwest of Jackson, Miss.
The investigation is ongoing, but at this point, authorities believe Burns was driving the car, got into an accident and then set the vehicle on fire, Jones said. It is not known whether the victims were in the car at the time of the accident, nor if Burns and the victims knew each other, though the sheriff believes they did not.
He said Burns led authorities to the bodies.
“We’re investigating. This just happened,” Jones said.
Hill worked as a nurse’s assistant at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, while Smith was a Sheetrock installer, WAPT said.
According to Hill’s mother, Judith Hughes, Hill called early Saturday to say she and Jaidon were on their way to meet Smith’s relatives to “take care of some business.”
When Hughes inquired if everything was OK, the daughter responded with “yes.”
Hughes told authorities and the media that the phone signal was weak, and the call dropped. Hughes tried calling back, but the call went straight to voice mail.
Hughes’ house was full Tuesday as family members gathered to mourn and to try to makes sense of what happened.
“Atira had such a big heart, why her?” asked Antionetta Taylor, one of Hill’s best friends. “She never bothered anybody. She was so young — and Jaidon was innocent.”
