The quiet town of Ellisville, Mississippi, was shaken late Sunday night after a deadly shooting outside a local motel left one man dead and the suspected gunman in custody. By early Monday morning, the case took an even darker turn when the suspect himself was found dead inside a county jail cell just hours after being booked.
Police say 31-year-old Henry Hamilton Jr. of Bay Springs was fatally shot near the entrance of the Millennium Inn shortly before midnight. Officers with the Ellisville Police Department rushed to the motel around 11:37 p.m. after receiving reports of gunfire. When they arrived, they found Hamilton lying near the front entrance with a gunshot wound to his chest. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators later reviewed surveillance footage from the motel that appears to capture the moment the violence unfolded. According to authorities, Hamilton was walking toward the motel entrance when a man believed to be 21-year-old Nehemiah Rice suddenly rounded a corner and fired multiple shots. After the gunfire, the suspect was seen briefly moving toward another hotel guest before fleeing the area.
Police quickly began searching nearby streets and businesses. Within minutes, officers located Rice at a Clark’s Gas Station not far from the motel. He was taken into custody around 11:48 p.m. and charged with murder in connection with Hamilton’s death.
Witnesses told investigators that Rice had been working in the area and had come to Ellisville for a job. Authorities also said there appeared to be no known connection between Rice and Hamilton, raising questions about what may have led to the deadly confrontation outside the motel.
Rice was booked into the Jones County Adult Detention Center at 1:33 a.m. Monday. Jail records show that an Ellisville police investigator questioned him between 2:48 a.m. and 2:58 a.m. before he was returned to his cell.
Less than half an hour later, at about 3:21 a.m., corrections officers discovered Rice unresponsive inside the cell. Jail staff immediately began emergency efforts, performing CPR and administering nasal Narcan while waiting for paramedics to arrive.
Rice was transported by ambulance to South Central Regional Medical Center, where doctors later pronounced him dead. Authorities said he had been in custody for less than two hours before he was found unresponsive.
Officials have now called in the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation to review the incident, which is standard procedure when someone dies while in custody. An autopsy will be conducted to determine the exact cause of Rice’s death as investigators continue working to piece together both the shooting and the unexpected death inside the jail.
