Monday, April 19, 2021
Hinds County Sheriff's Public Information Officer Capt. Tyree D. Jones said that Justin Mosley, 21, who was arrested for murder in January 2020 but has not gone to trial or been found guilty, died in custody. Photo courtesy WAPT
Justin Mosley, 21, a suspect found hanging on Sunday in his Raymond Detention Center cell, has been awaiting trial for 16 months, Capt. Tyree D. Jones, the sheriff's public information officer, told the Jackson Free Press Monday. Hinds County officials found him in his cell at 2:44 p.m on April 18, 2021, a statement the Hinds County Sheriff's office released the same day said.
Jones said Mosley was in jail based on two counts of capital murder. "He's been indicted," he told the Jackson Free Press. "He was awaiting trial."
The statement Jones released Sunday said that "[m]edical personnel was summoned to the scene for medical attention and he was pronounced deceased at 3:31 PM. The cause of death appears to be a hanging."
"The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation has been called in to conduct the death investigation. The coroner has also been contracted to conduct an investigation," it added.
WAPT's Ross Adam reported that U.S. marshals and Hinds County sheriff's deputies arrested Mosley on Jan. 29, 2020, for the suspected murder of Michael Lawson, 57, and Djuana Robinson, 27, at the Brandon Arms Apartments on Highway 467, Edwards, three days earlier. He was put in jail with no bond that day.
Pre-trial detainees in Hinds County facilities have historically faced long incarceration in local facilities before they go to trial, sometimes several years. All current Hinds County officials, including first-time Sheriff Lee Vance and District Attorney Jody Owens vowed in their campaigns for the positions to work together to reduce pre-trial jail time and help institute speedier trials.
Office of the District Attorney representative Samantha Grant told the Jackson Free Press in a statement Monday that Mosley faces life in prison for two counts of first-degree capital murder after an indictment on July 24 and that prosecution time in Hinds County is typically between one to two years.
A 2015 BOTEC Analysis study looked at case-processing times for felonies and pre-trial delays as part of its study of Jackson crime. At that time, District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith ran the prosecutor’s office, and Tyrone Lewis was sheriff.
Email story tips to city/county reporter Kayode Crown at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @kayodecrown.