A Mississippi and her boyfriend woman are dead after an apparent murder-suicide, according to the Carroll County Sheriff's Department.
Police say the bodies of Kierra Lasha Johnson, 20, and TraDarrian Dwight Crump, 20, were found Friday in the Avalon area of Carroll County. Police have confirmed that the two were dating and think that Crump fatally shot Johnson before turning the gun on himself.
Neither had been seen since late Wednesday evening. Her mother reported her missing to the Coffeeville Police Department on Friday morning.
Murder-suicides are a common form of gun violence in the United States. Statistics from the Violence Policy Center suggest that an estimated 11 such incidents each week. More than 1,200 Americans die in murder-suicides each year, with nearly two-thirds of all murder-suicides, an intimate partner of the shooter is among the victims.
"Family members had her phone pinged," Carroll County Sheriff Clint Walker said. "And the Coffeeville Police contacted me."
"Sheriff Walker and the Carroll County Sheriff's Office send their deepest condolences to the families of the deceased, and requests that our citizens remember these families in their prayers as well," the department said in a statement.