Man Tied to Multi-Month Killing Spree Sentenced to Life for murder of pregnant woman and unborn child
March 6, 2026
(Jackson, MS) Hinds County District Attorney Jody E. Owens, II, announced that 22-year-old Joseph Brown has been found guilty of First-Degree Murder, Aggravated Assault, and Drive-By Shooting in connection with a shooting that killed 23-year-old Keyunta McWilliams and her unborn child.
On December 15, 2021, officers with the Jackson Police Department responded to reports of a shooting and discovered Keyunta McWilliams suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. McWilliams, who was eight months pregnant, and her unborn child succumbed to their injuries at the scene. Investigators determined that McWilliams and her boyfriend, Knowledge Wigley, stopped at the 21 Flavors gas station shortly before the shooting. While inside the store, Wigley had an argument with Joseph Brown over the price of marijuana. After the victims left the gas station, Brown followed their vehicle. Surveillance footage later showed Brown, along with several co-defendants, driving near Beasley Road and Brownlee Drive, where multiple rounds were fired into the vehicle in what authorities have described as a drive-by shooting. The vehicle was occupied by McWilliams, Wigley, and Wigley’s two-year-old child. Brown was identified as one of the individuals involved in the attack.
Brown was found guilty on all counts against him. He was sentenced to 30 years for count I, the murder of McWilliams, 30 years for count II, the murder of McWilliams unborn child, 20 years for each count of aggravated assault, and 30 years for drive by shooting with all time to be served in the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
“During the height of Covid, Brown terrorized our community and had no value for human life. A mother and her unborn child were killed in a senseless act of gun violence” said District Attorney Owens. “Despite his young age, Brown was one of the most violent individuals in Jackson and his reign of terror has come to an end. This kind of reckless and repeated violence will not be tolerated in Hinds County.”
Man sentenced in shooting that killed pregnant woman
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JODY E. OWENS, II
