Member of Armed carjacking trio
sentenced to 35 years in dating app scheme
February 25, 2026
(Jackson, MS) Hinds County District Attorney Jody E. Owens, II, announced that 22-year-old, Jayden Tillis has pled guilty to multiple counts of Armed Carjacking and Aggravated Assault in connection with a violent series of incidents in early 2023. The case stems from multiple armed carjackings and shootings carried out alongside co-defendants De’Andre Brown and Jamori Thompson.
On January 16, 2023, at 2012 Ridgeway Street, Tillis shot Justin Donerson during the course of an armed carjacking. Donerson was struck in the abdomen and buttocks but survived. After shooting him, Tillis took Donerson’s 2011 Kia Optima at gunpoint, placing him in fear for his life.
On February 14, 2023, Tillis and his co-defendants targeted another victim near Warner Avenue and Ridgeway Street after arranging a meeting through a dating application. The victim, Marcus Kent, was approached at gunpoint, shot in the arm, and robbed of his 2010 Hyundai Genesis. The defendants were using dating applications to lure victims to locations where they were robbed of their vehicles at gunpoint.
Tillis was sentenced in two separate cases involving armed carjacking and aggravated assault. In the first case he will serve 15 years. In the second case, he will serve 20 years. Because the two cases are ordered to run consecutively, Tillis will serve a total of 35 years in prison.
“These defendants deliberately targeted victims, lured them to isolated locations, and robbed them at gunpoint,” said District Attorney Jody E. Owens, II. “This was calculated violence. Violent offenders in Hinds County will face decades in prison.” JPD releases new details about teenage capital murder suspect
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JODY E. OWENS, II
