Eagle Lake murder-suicide victims identified

Published 5:13 pm Wednesday, November 8, 2023

The man and woman at the center of a Tuesday night murder-suicide investigation at Eagle Lake have been identified.

Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said the suspected shooter was Steven Junior Craft, 41 of Simpson County. Craft had multiple domestic violence charges in the past, some of which were against the woman he killed.

The murder victim has been identified as Gabrielle Summer Tatum, 28.

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“They had a domestic dispute that became violent,” Pace said. “He shot her and turned the gun on himself. Both were dead on the scene when we forced entry.”

While Craft had a history of domestic abuse, Pace clarified that the Warren County Sheriff’s Office had not been called to his address on Caravane Circle.

“We had no history (with Craft or Tatum),” Pace said. “All cases were out of Simpson County, Miss.”

The scene was discovered at approximately 9:30 p.m. Tuesday when a person identified as a family member of either Craft or Tatum called Vicksburg-Warren E911 to request a welfare check and report possible suicidal threats.

Deputies went to the address and found two vehicles at the mobile home Craft was renting, but were unable to get anyone to come to the door, which was locked. The deputies were able to contact the owner of the mobile home, but he was unable to provide a key, Pace said.

“It’s a rental property. He’d been renting and she’d been living with him off and on for several months,” Pace said. “He’d been doing contractor jobs in the area.”

When deputies entered, they found the couple inside, each dead from a single gunshot wound.

Craft and Tatum were declared dead at the scene by Warren County Coroner Doug Huskey.

The case remains under investigation and deputy Erich Jerscheid is the lead investigator.

John Surratt contributed to this report.