Nykel Poole, an aspiring nurse, was killed outside a Gulfport home while her twin brother and another person were wounded.
GULFPORT, Miss. — A Mississippi mother is preparing to bury her 19-year-old daughter a decade after losing an older son to gun violence, following a shooting that also wounded the young woman’s twin brother and another person.
Nykel Poole died after gunfire erupted shortly before 9 p.m. June 29 near the intersection of 20th Street and 32nd Avenue in Gulfport, authorities said. Police arrested John Gaddis III, 34, the next morning and charged him with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault. He was being held in the Harrison County Adult Detention Center on a $2 million bond.
Officers responding at about 8:45 p.m. found Poole dead and two other people suffering from gunshot wounds, according to the Gulfport Police Department. Harrison County Coroner Brian Switzer said Poole appeared to have been struck once and was pronounced dead at the scene at 8:55 p.m. One injured person was flown to a hospital, while the other was taken by ambulance.
Police initially said both wounded victims were in critical condition. By the following afternoon, one remained hospitalized and the other had been released, according to information provided to WLOX. Authorities did not publicly identify either survivor, but Poole’s family said in an online fundraiser that her twin brother was among those wounded.
Detectives believe the shooting followed an ongoing dispute involving narcotics between Gaddis and one of the victims, police said. Authorities have not said that Poole was involved in the dispute, identified the person with whom Gaddis allegedly had the disagreement or released a detailed account of what happened before the shooting.
Police located Gaddis a short time after the gunfire and arrested him without incident. The charges against him are allegations, and they do not establish guilt. Publicly available reports did not indicate whether he had entered a plea or retained an attorney who could comment on his behalf.
Poole’s mother described her daughter in the fundraiser as loving, caring and devoted to others. She said Poole had recently completed the first phase of a certified nursing assistant program and hoped to become a nurse. The family organized the fundraiser to help cover funeral and burial expenses.
The mother wrote that the loss was the second time she had been forced to bury one of her children following a killing. Poole’s older brother was 16 when he was fatally shot in a Gulfport alley in January 2016. A teenager was later convicted of second-degree murder in that case and sentenced to 35 years in prison, according to local reporting.
The family’s renewed grief has become a central part of the case as relatives prepare for another funeral. Poole’s mother said her daughter’s plans for a career in health care had been cut short and remembered her as a young woman willing to help anyone in need.
Records reviewed by WLOX showed that Gaddis had faced criminal charges before the June shooting. He pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in 2015 after prosecutors accused him of striking a man with a vehicle and beating him. He later served prison time following convictions related to arson and possession with intent to distribute marijuana, the station reported.
Those prior cases are separate from the current prosecution and do not prove the allegations arising from Poole’s death. Investigators have not publicly disclosed what physical evidence they collected, whether a weapon was recovered or whether additional arrests are expected.
The investigation remains active. Gaddis continued to be held on the murder and assault charges, while authorities had not announced his next court appearance or released a further update on the surviving hospitalized victim.