Nearly a year after a mass shooting hours after Hal’s St. Paddy’s Parade in downtown Jackson, Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens is touting progress he said his office has made on the case but offering few details to help the public make sense of the chaotic incident that killed one and injured seven. 

The shooting rang out as many parade-goers were walking back to their cars from the largest annual event in downtown Jackson. Days later, Capitol Police arrested two brothers – Michael McLeod, 23, and Marquavius McLeod, 22. Officers picked up a third suspect, 19-year-old Kanye Davis, in July. 

All three men were charged with murder in the killing of 21-year-old Cortez George, as well as multiple counts of aggravated assault, indicating that police believed they were exchanging gunfire in a mutual fight. A Capitol Complex Improvement District judge jailed them without bond at the notoriously troubled Raymond Detention Center, finding they represented a threat to public safety.  

Owens’ comments at his Thursday press conference, convened in part to highlight his office’s work on this shooting, indicated the cases were swimming along to justice. 

“Individuals have been indicted,” Owens said. “I’m somewhat limited in what I can say, but we are proud to announce individuals have been indicted, and we will be moving forward to conviction on that case.” 

But a recently-called grand jury has thrown cold water on law enforcement’s efforts, finding the evidence gathered by police and presented by the prosecution did not support the same set of charges for all three men. 

Instead, jurors indicted just one of the suspects – Davis, a friend of the man who died – for murder and seven counts of aggravated assault. After the brothers had spent 10 months behind bars, the grand jury cleared them of murder charges, though it indicted Marquavuis McLeod for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The McLeods went home, thinking their cases were over. Their aunt made a celebratory Facebook post. But days later, Marquavius McLeod was arrested by sheriff’s deputies for the lesser firearm charge and taken back to Raymond. 

Deputies made this arrest shortly after Marquavius McLeod’s attorney, Carlos Tanner, criticized the quality of Capitol Police’s investigation in a WLBT report, advising police to next time arrest the “correct” person. 

In that same report, Capitol Police Chief Bo Luckey said the investigation was difficult and praised his officers who responded to the scene with hundreds of people on the street. He said police received “very little cooperation from anyone” involved in the shooting. 

But documents in the case show that at least two people did cooperate with Capitol Police: Michael and Marquavius McLeod. 

According to an April 3 affidavit filed against Davis, Michael McLeod voluntarily gave a statement, telling investigators he fired a gun in self-defense after Davis started shooting at him and his family. 

Then he was arrested. 

The brothers also helped police identify Davis in Instagram pictures – including one showing Davis posing with a firearm during the parade. Marquavius McLeod picked Davis out of a lineup. 

Owens would not say what evidence was presented to the grand jury to support Marquavius McLeod’s new charge, but according to the affidavit, Michael McLeod told investigators that his younger brother fired a weapon during the shooting. At the time of the parade, Marquavius McLeod had a suspended sentence for possession of a stolen vehicle. 

The district attorney also suggested that the man cleared of all charges – Michael McLeod, who worked as a police officer at the University of Mississippi Medical Center at the time of the shooting – may have used his weapon in defense of himself and his family members. 

“With Mr. McLeod being an officer of the University of Mississippi Medical Center and also I believe an Air Force reservist, he was well in his right to need to defend himself if necessary,” Owens said. “But we wanted to make sure we understood all the facts surrounding that, and we’ll continue to evaluate those facts, allow people to continue to come back after cases have been indicted and give us facts, something that was unknown at the time that for whatever reason they’ve not told the police.” 

As a result of the swift arrest, Michael McLeod lost his job. His brother’s defense lawyer and aunt have criticized the investigation — in which police made arrests before they were able to say who fired the first shorts.

Since Michael McLeod spoke with police, Owens said investigators have learned more about the case. He said about 20 shell casings were on the ground at the time.

“All those shell casings have to be tested,” Owens said. “Individuals have to be interviewed. Footage has to be reviewed. We know that there were certain aggressors and that’s what we do in every case, we decide who is the aggressor, who started the event, and what individuals … might have been protecting their loved one.” 

Owens suggested the new indictments are a reflection of a properly functioning criminal justice system in which the grand jury ensures prosecutors are pursuing the right charges. 

“We just know that individuals were shooting back at each other and the goal was to make sure Capitol had the support they needed,” Owens added, referring to Capitol Police. “And what we do with all cases, we work with Capitol, JPD to ensure we know the facts and present the best case. The arrest is just the start of their job. Our job is making sure we get it right with the indictment.”

In response to a question from Mississippi Today about whether investigators know whose gun shot and killed George, Owens hinted that more people will be indicted in the shooting, but he did not say how many or when the indictments will be public.

“That’s still an active investigation to some degree, so I can’t speak to that,” Owens said. “We do know that multiple people were shot, and we do know that we believe that the individual who has been indicted in that case, currently, I don’t want to say his name, but he has been indicted … but there might be more indictments coming.” 

Grand jury proceedings are secret in Mississippi. They are not recorded or transcribed. Davis is still jailed in Raymond and his indictment for murder and aggravated assault, which the district attorney’s office confirmed in an email to Mississippi Today, has not been made public. It’s unclear if he has an attorney. 

Despite allegedly participating in the gun fight, Davis also seemed to be confused about the logic behind his charges in a comment he made during his initial appearance in CCID court. WLBT reported that Davis told the judge he attended the parade with George. 

“It says ‘by shooting George multiple times with an unknown firearm,’’ Davis said, according to WLBT. “I came with George.”

The shooting took place close to the intersection of Lamar and Pearl Streets – close to a cigar bar Owens owns – hours after the end of the parade on March 22. 

Police arrived to a chaotic street. Multiple people were suffering from gunshot wounds, including the McLeods’ cousin, Jordin Ward, and George, who was transported to UMMC where he died of  his injuries. 

Five days later, documents show that Michael McLeod gave the Capitol Police a statement, allegedly telling them he was walking family members to their cars when he heard gunshots and began firing in self-defense. 

“I took my gun out and began shooting the threat,” Michael McLeod told officers, according to the affidavit. 

By the time Davis was arrested, Capitol Police did not know what gun he used during the shooting, calling it “unknown,” according to the charging documents. A felony affidavit charging Marquavius McLeod with George’s killing says he used an “unknown caliber” firearm. 

Correction 2/6/26: This story has been updated to reflect that the McLeods are cousins to Jordin Ward.