The arrest of a 15-year-old boy for two separate murders and a string of armed robberies and carjackings is what Hinds County Sheriff Tyree Jones said is “the epitome” of the challenges facing the community.”As I’ve always said, law enforcement is not responsible for raising kids but we bear the responsibility of arresting them and jailing them after they’ve committed some of these heinous and brutal crimes,” Jones said in a social media post. “Before a ‘child’ starts killing and robbing, they are involved in lesser crimes, but there isn’t any accountability on behalf of those responsible for them.”Jones said there is no intervention provided to stop the youth from graduating to more violent, adult crimes. “A 15-year-old doesn’t just wake up and decide to rob and kill,” Jones said.Montravious Baker was arrested Saturday and is accused of shooting a 15-year-old girl and then standing over her shooting her seven more times, according to a Jackson police detective. Baker is also accused of killing a bow-hunter whose truck he had broken into. Police said Baker stole a gun from the truck and shot the hunter after he walked out of the woods. It’s not yet known if the hunter’s gun was the murder weapon.Baker and two other people are also charged in connection with armed robberies at Dollar General stores, a gas station and fast food restaurants. The teenager is also charged in three carjackings.”As a lady once said on the news years ago after we arrested her son for capital murder, and I quote: ‘Now, I won’t say my son won’t rob or steal, (but) he’s not going to kill anyone.’ An example of no accountability on behalf of those responsible,” Jones said.The case Jones was referring to was from 2015, when a 16-year-old was charged with the murder of a 69-year-old woman in Belhaven. The 16-year-old was one of several teenagers who were charged in connection with a multi-city crime spree. “If you know your youth is stealing cars, breaking in cars, breaking in houses, there needs to be a level of accountability. If not, they will go in the wrong direction and those crimes will be upgraded to violent crimes,” Jones said. Jones encourages parents and the community to have conversations about how to prevent young people from getting guns and committing crimes.
The arrest of a 15-year-old boy for two separate murders and a string of armed robberies and carjackings is what Hinds County Sheriff Tyree Jones said is “the epitome” of the challenges facing the community.
“As I’ve always said, law enforcement is not responsible for raising kids but we bear the responsibility of arresting them and jailing them after they’ve committed some of these heinous and brutal crimes,” Jones said in a social media post. “Before a ‘child’ starts killing and robbing, they are involved in lesser crimes, but there isn’t any accountability on behalf of those responsible for them.”
Jones said there is no intervention provided to stop the youth from graduating to more violent, adult crimes.
“A 15-year-old doesn’t just wake up and decide to rob and kill,” Jones said.
Montravious Baker was arrested Saturday and is accused of shooting a 15-year-old girl and then standing over her shooting her seven more times, according to a Jackson police detective. Baker is also accused of killing a bow-hunter whose truck he had broken into. Police said Baker stole a gun from the truck and shot the hunter after he walked out of the woods. It’s not yet known if the hunter’s gun was the murder weapon.
Baker and two other people are also charged in connection with armed robberies at Dollar General stores, a gas station and fast food restaurants. The teenager is also charged in three carjackings.
“As a lady once said on the news years ago after we arrested her son for capital murder, and I quote: ‘Now, I won’t say my son won’t rob or steal, (but) he’s not going to kill anyone.’ An example of no accountability on behalf of those responsible,” Jones said.
The case Jones was referring to was from 2015, when a 16-year-old was charged with the murder of a 69-year-old woman in Belhaven. The 16-year-old was one of several teenagers who were charged in connection with a multi-city crime spree.
“If you know your youth is stealing cars, breaking in cars, breaking in houses, there needs to be a level of accountability. If not, they will go in the wrong direction and those crimes will be upgraded to violent crimes,” Jones said.
Jones encourages parents and the community to have conversations about how to prevent young people from getting guns and committing crimes.
