Two children have been shot to death after a hostage situation in Mississippi early Monday morning.
Police say they arrived at a residence at 325 Coldwater River Road in Jonestown around 2 a.m. and located a 25-year-old Marquez Griffin who was holding a child at gunpoint.
Deputies were eventually able to get the child to safety after negotiating with Griffin.
Coahoma County sheriffs say they located a 9-year-old boy and a 1-year-old girl, Averi Jones, both suffering from gunshot wounds at the residence.
The boy was pronounced dead at the scene while the baby girl later died at a hospital in Clarksdale.
“All I know is my grandbaby Averi Jones is gone and I just want everyone to know that Averi Baby was a sweet baby. She didn’t deserve this. She didn’t deserve this. She didn’t deserve this at all,” Melrose Haile said.
Filled with pain and heartache, Melrose Haile is the grandmother of the one-year-old who was killed at the Summit Garden Apartments.
“Her mom told me she was sleep and he put a pillow over her head and shoot her in her head,” Haile said.
According to Haile, there were several children at the apartment when the shootings happened. Haile says to her knowledge, Griffin is a friend of Jones’ mother.
“She told me they were friends and how could a friend do this to you?” Haile said.
At this time, investigators do not have a motive for the killings.
The identity of the 9-year-old boy hasn’t been released yet.
Griffin has been charged with two counts of murder and two counts of aggravated assault.
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