A Mississippi man shot the owners of a house where he was living in and their children, killing the father and nine-year-old daughter as well as critically wounding the mother and two other children Friday, police said.
The mother and her two children crossed a busy two-lane highway to plead for help from neighbors who were awakened by loud knocking on their door.
"It was like out of a horror movie," said Donna Davis, 39. "I still see that little girl's face in my mind."
Jermaine Sims, 31, and the nine-year-old daughter died later Friday morning. His 29-year-old wife, Victoria, and their 6-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter survived the shooting but were in critical condition, Captain Clint Earls said.
Jimmy Lyons is accused of shooting the family, Earls said. He said the 32-year-old man and Sims got into an argument but did not know what about.
"The only thing we are waiting on is getting some of the victims in well-enough health to where they can shed some light on what caused the incident to erupt," Earls said.
Lyons faces two counts of murder and three of aggravated assault.
The shootings took place south of downtown Brookhaven
Donna and John Davis and their 10-year-old daughter, Heaven, live in a white-and-beige trailer home across the highway and about 100 yards away from the Sims' brown, wood-frame home. John Davis' mother, Linda Davis, lives next door in a small cream-colored house.
Police said a call about 12:20 a.m. brought them to the Davises' homes, where they found Victoria Sims and two children outside, wounded. Inside the Sims' home they found Lyons, who was not injured, and Jermaine Sims and the 9-year-old.
The Davises said they often saw the children getting on and off the school bus or riding bicycles in the yard, but did not know their neighbors.
Donna Davis said that when she answered the door, someone kept saying “we’ve been hit.” Davis said there was so much blood, that she thought they had been hit by a car.
"The little boy, he was half under the porch like he was trying to hide from someone. He was screaming for help," she said, pointing to the rickety-looking wooden steps leading to the trailer door.
At one point, Linda Davis said, he reached up to his face and said, "Oh, half my ear is gone."
John Davis said the boy's wounds included cuts on his face, as if he'd been attacked with a knife.
Donna Davis said that, while they waited for an ambulance, she hugged the girl to keep her warm.
"She kept saying, 'I want my mama,'" Donna Davis said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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