Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

NATCHEZ — Violent crimes which occurred over the weekend in Adams County has county officials and community agencies calling for action.

Adams County Supervisors Warren Gaines and Ricky Gray both said the county should take steps to install crime cameras in response to two separate shooting events that took place over the weekend in Adams County. A young woman and mother of three was killed outside her home on Country Club Drive and two young men were badly injured on Myrtle Drive.

“To keep our people safe, someone needs to figure out what it is going to cost to put cameras in these areas and we need to do it immediately,” Gray said.

Gaines agreed

“Crime is going back up and it’s sporadic,” he said. “I’m with supervisor Gray. Whatever we need to do, we need to start doing the footwork to get these crimes solved.”

Devonica Hammett, 25, was found deceased with a gunshot wound in her chest outside her residence on Country Club Drive early Saturday morning. Devonte M. Jackson, 25, later turned himself in to ACSO and is being held on a murder charge.

Adams County Coroner James Lee said Hammett was a mother of three children.

“May God be with her and this grieving family,” Lee said. “I ask myself all the time. Why do these shootings continue to happen? They are senseless.”

She also worked with AJFC Community Action Agency, and the agency issued a statement about her death on social media Saturday.

“The AJFC family is saddened by the news of the senseless killing of Devonica Hammett,” the agency states. “Ms. Hammett was a devoted mother, a beloved daughter and loved by many. At AJFC, she was a shining star in our Community Services department.”

AJFC also stated, “AJFC condemns all of the recent violence that our communities have had to endure. Acts of domestic violence should always be taken seriously. If you are currently in that situation, please get out now! Don’t wait until it’s too late.”

AJFC included an emergency number for victims to call who need immediate assistance in situations of violence, 1-800-799-SAFE(7233).

Adams County Sheriff’s Office is still investigating the shooting on Myrtle Drive which injured two men, Emanuel J. Jones, 21, and Melvin Myles Jr., 22.

Both were airlifted from Merit Health Natchez to another hospital for medical attention.

Sheriff Travis Patten said both victims are alive and investigators have identified persons of interest in the case. The investigation is ongoing, he said.

The Adams County Sheriff’s office is asking those with information or video of the crime to contact them in one of the following ways.

• By calling the Adams County Sheriff’s Office at 601-442-2752, 911
  or anonymously call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS(8477)
• By using the P3 TIPS APP (Crime Stoppers App) or Tipp411 app on mobile devices.
• Or by calling Major Frank Smith with the ACSO Criminal Investigation Division at 601-597-4328.