New evidence emerges in MJ Daniels shooting case
Watch: Friends and family release balloons in honor of MJ Daniels
The George County community gathered to release memorial balloons in honor of MJ Daniels, a Southern Miss football player who passed away Tuesday.
HATTIESBURG – The first of four suspects in the June shooting death of Southern Miss football player MJ Daniels had a preliminary hearing in Forrest County Court on Friday.
Samir Green, 16, of Hattiesburg, was denied bail for the second time by Hattiesburg City Judge Mary Moore Conville for his alleged role in Daniels’ death on June 11. Green is charged with felony attempted armed carjacking, with Conville setting the bond at $100,000. Green is being charged as an adult.
Conville also rejected a motion to dismiss the charges on the grounds that there was sufficient probable cause.
Hattiesburg police said the investigation is ongoing.
The three other arrestees – Orlando May, Allen Marcus Gardner and Nytavion Shaw – have not yet received preliminary hearings. They all face the same two charges; May also faces felony fleeing and auto theft.
Hattiesburg Police Detective Chandra Daniels (no relation to MJ Daniels) was the only person to testify Friday, presenting new evidence about what happened the night of the shooting and the days that followed.
MORE: This is how MJ Daniels’ mother remembers the life of the murdered Southern Miss football player
How the Hattiesburg detective remembered the night MJ Daniels was shot
Chandra Daniels said Hattiesburg police responded to a 911 call reporting multiple shots fired at the Ivy Row apartment complex near the Southern Miss campus, where they found MJ Daniels dead in the driver’s seat of his black Dodge Challenger with a gunshot wound to the back of his head near his neck.
She added that they found two bullet holes on the car – one on the passenger side and one on the driver side. The bullet on the driver side did not enter the vehicle. A 9mm shell casing was found near the passenger side of the car. Fingerprints were discovered on the outside of the car, including Green’s.
Three witnesses were identified at the scene, but their names have not been released publicly. One witness, according to Daniels, said she was walking her dog in the Ivy Row apartment complex when she noticed four black men following her before the shooting. The woman called out to her roommate as she walked back to her apartment, and the four men turned and walked away as she approached the door to her apartment.
May, Gardner and Green were arrested two days after the shooting. Shaw was arrested on June 20.
May and Green were arrested together near Hattiesburg High School, according to Daniels. It is unclear who was driving, but a police officer stopped the two after recognizing the car as stolen. They sped away from police, then fled on foot and were arrested by police. A .38 caliber handgun was found in the car.
MJ Daniels, 21, began his final season as a defensive back at Southern Miss. The former George County High School star played the 2021 and 2022 seasons at Ole Miss before joining the Golden Eagles.
His funeral was held on June 22 in the George County High School gymnasium.
Sam Sklar is the Southern Miss reporter for the Hattiesburg American. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
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