Sanitation workers found the 16-year-olds on a rural Hinds County road after both had been reported missing within the previous day.
HINDS COUNTY, Miss. — Two 16-year-old Lanier Junior Senior High School students who had been reported missing were found shot to death along South Springdale Road on March 30, authorities said, turning a midday roadside discovery by sanitation workers into a double-homicide investigation.
Terry Burrell Jr. and Khloe Hudson were identified by Hinds County authorities as the two teenagers found in rural Hinds County. Sheriff Tyree Jones said the killings did not appear to be random, but investigators had not publicly named a suspect or a motive by April 4. The deaths shook families, classmates and mentors in Jackson, where both teens attended the same school, and prompted school officials to bring in counselors while detectives worked to learn how the pair ended up on the roadside and who was responsible.
Authorities said sanitation workers making routine rounds found the bodies around noon Monday, March 30, along the side of South Springdale Road in the 1700 block. Early reports described the area as a rural stretch near a church in the Pocahontas community of Hinds County. Sheriff Jones said deputies responded after the workers called in what they had found and confirmed that the two victims appeared to have been shot multiple times. By then, both teens had already been reported missing to the Jackson Police Department within the previous 24 hours. The sheriff said investigators believe Burrell and Hudson knew each other and were likely taken to the location together. “This does not appear to be a random act of violence,” Jones said as authorities began piecing together the teens’ final movements and trying to determine whether they were killed at the roadside or brought there after the shooting.
The known facts remain limited, and that has become one of the most important parts of the story. Authorities have said both victims were 16 and both were students in Jackson Public Schools. They have also said both suffered multiple gunshot wounds. Beyond that, many central questions were still unanswered as of Saturday, April 4. Investigators had not publicly described a vehicle, identified a suspect, or said whether there was one shooter or more than one. They had not said when the teens were last seen alive, nor had they explained what evidence, if any, was collected from the roadside. Jones said investigators were still trying to determine whether the pair had been targeted, whether they were brought to the area by someone they knew, or whether another sequence of events led to the killings. He called the case serious and concerning, and said detectives were following leads while asking for more information from the public.
The deaths sent a wave of grief through Lanier Junior Senior High School and the wider Jackson community. Jackson Public Schools said it was mourning the sudden loss of two scholars and said counselors were being made available for students and staff. Local coverage in the days after the discovery showed how quickly the case moved from a crime scene to a community tragedy. Hudson had participated in the Living with Purpose Diversion Youth Program in Jackson, where founder John Knight said he had watched her grow. Knight remembered Hudson as a typical teenager with an easy presence and said the loss was hard on the young people around her. He also said the city had seen several youth deaths in a short span, adding to the pain families were already carrying. For classmates and mentors, the case was not only about the violence of one afternoon, but also about the abrupt loss of two teenagers whose lives had still been unfolding in school hallways, family homes and neighborhood programs.
Burrell’s family also began speaking publicly about the boy they knew as TJ, offering a picture of him that went far beyond a sheriff’s briefing. In an interview with WAPT, his brother Katerrius Burrell recalled simple moments at home, including watching the sunrise with him in the backyard. Family members described Terry Burrell Jr. as kind, faith-centered and devoted to basketball. They said he loved talking about the Bible and hoped one day to reach the NBA and make his mother proud. Those memories sharpened the sense of loss around the case, especially because relatives said the family had already endured recent deaths. The private grief of Burrell’s relatives and the public mourning around Hudson made clear that the investigation was unfolding alongside two separate family tragedies, each now tied to the same unresolved homicide case on a rural road outside Jackson.
Procedurally, the case remained in an early stage by the end of the week. Hinds County authorities were treating the deaths as a double homicide, and no arrest had been announced. Local reporting said multiple agencies, including the Hinds County Sheriff’s Office and Capitol Police, were working the case. On April 2, the sheriff’s department said there was no new information to release publicly. A day later, the story took a new step at City Hall in Jackson, where Councilman Kenneth Stokes introduced a proposal for a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible. WAPT reported that the measure was set for discussion at the Jackson City Council meeting on Tuesday, April 7. That proposal does not answer the core questions in the investigation, but it shows city leaders are trying to generate leads while detectives continue to sort through evidence, timelines and witness accounts.
The scene itself has become part of the shock surrounding the case. Neighbors and residents interviewed by local television reporters described the area as quiet, a place where violence of this kind did not feel routine. That contrast, a secluded rural road and two teenagers found dead in daylight hours, gave the case an added force. Mentors spoke about promise interrupted. Family members spoke about ordinary memories that now carry extraordinary weight. Knight said Hudson was “just a normal kid,” a short line that underscored how suddenly the story moved from missing-person concern to homicide investigation. Katerrius Burrell described how hard it was to see his own family become the subject of local news. Together, those voices added texture that official statements could not: the grief inside homes, the unease inside a school community and the lingering disbelief that two students who were missing one day were dead the next.
As of April 4, investigators had not publicly identified a suspect or a motive in the killings of Terry Burrell Jr. and Khloe Hudson. The next visible milestone is the April 7 Jackson City Council meeting, where members are expected to consider the proposed $5,000 reward as the double-homicide investigation continues.
Author note: Last updated April 4, 2026.