Brothers Charged In Last Year’s Highway Murder

WATER VALLEY – Two Water Valley men were arrested Thursday following an 18-month investigation into the 2020 highway shooting that claimed the life of 27 year-old Barney Edward Frost, Jr. Yalobusha County Sheriff Jerimaine Gooch reported Jarvis Roberson and Geraldo Roberson were each indicted for first degree murder (deliberate design) during the Sept. 30 grand jury session. The men were booked in the Yalobusha County Detention Center last Thursday after turning themselves in to deputies.

Sheriff Gooch reported the men allegedly shot Frost on March 28,  2020 during a high-speed chase on Hwy. 7. The chase followed an earlier shooting on County Road 328 during a dispute believed to be connected to high stakes betting on street racing. Frost was a passenger in a vehicle that fled and headed south on Hwy. 7 at a high rate of speed.

A second car allegedly occupied by Geraldo Roberson and Jarvis Roberson pursued the vehicle and numerous rounds were fired in the chase that traveled through Water Valley on the bypass and continued several miles south of town. It ended when Frost, a passenger, was fatally struck by a round that entered the vehicle through the back window.  The driver pulled over and dialed 911 and hid until the scene was secured by deputies with the assistance of officers from Water Valley and Coffeeville police departments. Frost was deceased when officers arrived.

Speaking to the Herald for an earlier story on the murder, District Attorney John Champion reported that the investigation included a lengthy wait for cell phone data.

Sheriff Gooch reported that the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI) worked the investigation with the assistance of the Yalobusha County Sheriff’s Department, Water Valley Police Department and Lafayette County Sheriff’s Department.

“I am proud of the partnership among the agencies, this was a joint effort,” Gooch reported. “Hopefully these arrests can provide some closure for the family of the victim.”

Both men posted a $250,000 bond and were released from custody the day of their arrests.

Record Six Homicides

in 2020

Frost’s murder was the first of six recorded in Yalobusha County during 2020, a record in recent history.  Less than two months of Frost was killed, firefighters recovered two badly burned bodies inside a mobile home on County Road 294, just west of Water Valley. Investigators determined that Jennifer Nault and Richard Dicken had both been shot before their home was torched on May 17. Kendrick Scott was indicted on February 25, 2021,for two counts of capital murder. Scott is currently in custody awaiting trial on the charges.

A second double homicide occurred on July 12, 2020, after a mother and daughter were gunned down during a domestic dispute at a residence on Hwy. 32 East, just outside the city limits of Water Valley. Jeannette Johnson and Brianna Johnson were fatally shot by Willie Ike Harris, who then took his own life.

The final death in 2020 has not been officially ruled a homicide, but remains under investigation as a suspicious death. Thirty-eight year-old Kristina Michelle Jones was discovered in a burned mobile home in the Boat Landing Community. Her cause of death was labeled undetermined following an autopsy. An arrest has not been made in her death.

There have been two homicides in the county during 2021. Latonia Shaw was fatally stabbed following a domestic disturbance at a residence on Grandview Drive in Water Valley on January 10. Jason Baker of Coffeeville was immediately arrested and charged with first degree murder.

Ashley Henley, a former state legislator, was gunned down on June 13 while outside cutting grass in the Boat Landing Community. Henley was the sister-in-law of Kristina Michelle Jones and was killed outside the burned mobile home where Jones’ body was discovered on Dec. 26. This homicide remains under investigation by the Yalobusha County Sheriff’s Department and MBI.