Teen pleads guilty to murder

Published 12:00 am Saturday, February 21, 2015

The last of seven teens charged in the shooting death of a Vicksburg High School student will spend two decades in prison for his role in a 2013 killing.

Circuit Judge M. James Chaney sentenced Marquis Jovan Black, 17, this week to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder. The sentencing order was finalized Friday.

Black is the last of seven teens to plead guilty in the 2013 killing of Ke’Marvin Stamps.

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In October, Romaire Brown, 17, pleaded to second-degree murder.

DeMario Mixon, Melvin Wiggins, Tyler Jones, Christopher Jones and Devontae Montgomery were all sentenced to five years in prison for accessory after the fact to second-degree murder. Mixon also received an additional five years for drive-by shooting in a separate case.

The seven defendants were all riding in Wiggin’s truck on March 15, 2013, when they initially went to Autumn Oaks Townhouses, 4920 Halls Ferry Road, with four guns in a planned retaliation for a drive-by shooting at Mixon’s home on Locust Street.

At the townhouses, they were in an altercation with another group of teens in a truck, but no one was injured.

Wiggins drove south on Halls Ferry Road before turning north on Greenbriar Drive and east on Gibson Road.

In the 4900 block of Gibson Road, the group saw Ke’Marvin and his brother walking, and one of the teens in the truck yelled to open fire.

Warren County Sheriff’s department records indicate that none of the seven teens in the truck knew Ke’Marvin.

Brown and Black opened fire, and a .22-caliber bullet fired by Brown struck Ke’Marvin in the head. Black fired a .40-caliber pistol, and initially confessed to the killing, according to court records. A 40-caliber bullet was found embedded in a tree behind where Ke’Marvin fell.