Police: Man accused of fatally shooting his mother, sister — ‘This is something that none of us are prepared for’

Gunshots rang out in a neighborhood in Columbus, Mississippi, after a family argument took a deadly turn.

“I thought maybe it was firecrackers or something,” area resident Marjorie Carter told WCBI-TV. “I was out working in the yard and then I saw people running in that area.”

Just after noon on June 23, police responded to reports of shots fired — one neighbor said it sounded like at least 15.

According to Columbus police, officers arrested Jaquenton Bush, 22, for the murders of his mother, Erica Bush Brewer, 49, and sister, Jayda Brewer, 8.

The deadly incident allegedly began inside the family’s home. The suspect’s sister appeared to attempt to flee but died in the front yard. The mother passed away from her injuries on the way to an area hospital.

“We know that there was some type of argument between the mom and the son,” Columbus Police Chief Fred Shelton said. “We don’t know how that started or when it started.”

“This is something that none of us are prepared for,” he noted of the fatal shootings. “Typically, you don’t expect children and adults to get into this.”

Chief Shelton said the mother’s husband, who was not home at the time, “is very distraught” and authorities are “trying to let him get himself mentally prepared to grasp this whole thing.”

Bush faces capital murder charges and is being held without bond in the Lowndes County jail, according to police.

“To shoot your mom and your sister speaks volumes about what we need to do with our young people today,” said Carter, the family's neighbor.