A Look At Unsolved Murders In The County During The Last Two Decades
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Crime scene tape surrounds Columbus Buford’s house during the investigation.
Fifteen years have passed since Columbus “Jimmy” Buford was brutally beaten and killed inside his home on Calhoun Street in Water Valley on Dec. 15, 2009. MBI agents and the sheriff’s department assisted the Water Valley Police Department with the case, but few strong leads surfaced in the weeks and months that followed.
Buford had been the victim of a robbery less that four months earlier when a masked man entered his home and demanded money. Buford was injured in a fight with the suspect, who then took money and fled the scene.
There are other unsolved homicides in the county during the last two decades.
On June 2, 2004, Kristina Dixon was found brutally murdered in her home on Samuel Drive in the Boat Landing Community. Dixon, who was 23, was discovered by family members in the bathtub. The Yalobusha County Sheriff’s Department and Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI) worked the case for years as new leads have surfaced with no success.
On March 2, 2010, Carey “Pudding” Shantell McCollins was fatally shot at a residence on West Lee Street, just west of the Suggs Street intersection in Water Valley. Police were called to the residence around 10 p.m. and shortly after arriving reported that one man was down. McCollins was 31 years-old and authorities reported the homicide was likely drug related.
A 2010 photo of Water Valley Police Chief Mike King discussing the homicide scene with Chris Blair, Steve Story and Ryan Winters after Carey McCollins was killed on West Lee Street.
Feb. 13, 2009
Ernest Moore was gunned down in his car on Kennedy Street in Coffeeville. Multiple shots were fired, including the round that struck Moore in the head killing him instantly. His vehicle left the road, striking a pole in what officials described as a violent wreck. He was 29 years old. The Coffeeville Police Department and Yalobusha County Sheriff’s Department investigated the case.
Sept. 1, 2011
Deputies received a 911 call reporting a man was in a ditch on County Road 25. They responded and discovered Marcus White had been beaten in the head with a 2×4 and an iron pipe. He had been beaten and robbed and was only able to say as he was being loaded into the ambulance that two men had jumped him. White was never able to talk again and never recovered from the assault, remaining in a nursing home until his death in 2014. The 2011 assault was reclassified as a homicide and the sheriff’s department has reached out to the public numerous times seeking information that could lead to an arrest. Authorities believe that whoever contacted authorities about White’s whereabouts on the night of Sept. 1, 2011, has intimate knowledge of the crime.
Marcus White is hoisted into an ambulance after he was discovered in a ditch badly beaten on Sept. 1, 2011.
December 26, 2020
The body of Kristina Michelle Jones was found inside her burned trailer on Pat Drive in the Boat Landing Community. The cause of death remains undetermined and Jones’ death was not ruled a homicide following an autopsy, but suspected arson was a driving force in the ongoing investigation.
Jones’ body was discovered in a bedroom of the newer model, single-wide mobile home after fire fighters responded early Saturday morning.
June 13, 2021
One of the most high profile murder cases in Yalobusha County in decades, the death of former state representative Ashley Henley sparked attended from media across the United States and globally. Henley was discovered gunned down late on a Sunday afternoon on Pat Drive, the same location where her sister-in-law, Kristina Michelle Jones, was discovered inside the burned trailer six months earlier.
Authorities believe Ashley Henley was cutting grass when she was shot on June 13, 2021.
Authorities believe Henley was cutting grass with a string trimmer when she was shot in the head. A former State Representative, Henley had expressed frustration about the pace of the investigation in the of Kristina Michell Jones, who was her sister-in-law. The catalyst for the national attention came after Henley shared that she had discovered an important clue as she searched for answers in Jones’ death and was killed shortly afterwards.
March 22, 2023
The body of an Oxford man, Curtis Vaughn, was discovered near the intersection of County Roads 214 and 107 near the Water Valley Municipal Airport. Vaughn had been reported missing to the Oxford Police Department a day before his body was discovered after he had not been heard from since March 20. Vaughn’s vehicle, a 2015 Chevrolet Trax, was found abandoned near the Paris community in Lafayette County around the same time the body was discovered by two locals headed to the lake to fish.
Authorities do not know where the homicide occurred, it could have been in neighboring Lafayette County, as authorities determined that he was killed somewhere else and his body dumped . Among the few leads in the case was his attire, he was wearing rubber gloves when the body was discovered.
Curtis Vaughn was killed and his body dumped near the Water Valley Municipal Airport last March. Authorities were not able to determine where the homicide occurred, making the case difficult to solve.
