The quiet stretch of Hazlehurst was shaken late Monday morning when 39-year-old Benjamin Price was found lifeless behind a home on Johnsons Lane. What started as a routine day quickly turned into a crime scene, leaving neighbors stunned and a family facing an unimaginable loss.
Deputies with the Copiah County Sheriff’s Department say they were called out around 11:40 a.m. to the 1000 block of Johnsons Lane. It was a family member who made the grim discovery, finding Price’s body behind the residence. By the time authorities arrived, emergency responders could do little more than confirm what no one wanted to believe—Price was gone.
Sheriff Byron Swilley later confirmed that Price had suffered a single gunshot wound to the chest. That detail alone set the tone for what investigators now believe is a clear case of homicide. The area was quickly secured as deputies began documenting the scene, collecting evidence, and speaking with anyone who might have seen or heard something.
As the investigation unfolded, the focus turned to understanding what led to those final moments. Detectives worked through the neighborhood, piecing together a timeline that, for now, still carries more questions than answers. No suspect has been named, and no motive has been made public.
Price’s body is expected to undergo an autopsy at the Mississippi State Crime Laboratory. Officials say those results will be key in confirming details that could shape the direction of the case. Until then, authorities are treating the situation as an active death investigation, keeping all possibilities on the table.
Back in the community, the weight of the loss is already being felt. Friends and neighbors describe the situation as sudden and deeply unsettling. A life was taken in broad daylight, in a place many considered safe, and that reality is hard to shake.
Investigators are urging anyone who may have been in the area or noticed anything unusual around the time of the incident to come forward. Even the smallest detail, they say, could help bring clarity to a case that remains wide open.
For now, Hazlehurst sits in a quiet state of waiting—waiting for answers, for justice, and for some sense of closure in a story that ended far too soon for Benjamin Price.
