The teen who hosted an after-prom party at her Mississippi home where two high school students were shot dead and four injured has spoken out about the horrors she faced.
The 18-year-old, who asked not to be named, said she reluctantly agreed to host the after-prom party this year because no one else agreed to plan one.
But as about 60 to 70 students from Bay High School in Bay St. Louis and Hancock High School in Kiln celebrated early Sunday morning, a gunman opened fire, killing two teens and wounding four others — one of whom is in critical condition. He then fled and reportedly returned home.
Cameron Everett Brand, 19, of Pass Christian, was later arrested and charged with four counts of aggravated assault and two counts of murder. He is being held without bail in a Mississippi jail.
“He just started shooting and left with no remorse,” the 18-year-old hostess told the Sun announces of the suspected shooter.
19-year-old Cameron Everett Brand is being charged in connection with a house party shooting in Mississippi that left two dead
Authorities say Brand entered an after-prom party at a student’s home and began firing an unknown number of bullets
The teenage girl and her mother shared how they monitored partygoers at their home, monitored the crowd, and picked up trash.
They said they did not supply alcohol to any of the teens, although some of the students brought their own and many drank.
Neither the girl nor her mother said they heard any screaming or signs of arguing – and their first sign that something was wrong was the sound of gunfire.
The girl and her mother said they never saw the gun, but her mother heard sounds like “pow, pow, pow.”
The teen, meanwhile, said her friends grabbed her and pulled her into the woods behind the house after the first shots rang out.
When the shooting stopped, she said she saw someone lying next to her mother’s car and went to resuscitate him – but someone stopped her and told the girl, “He’s dead.”
“We were having a good time until he started shooting,” the 18-year-old said, pointing out that the gunman “just got in his car and left and went home” after “shooting six innocent people.”
“This happened at my house,” she continued. “I just wanted everyone to have a good time. This will always stay with me.’
The girl said she had already canceled her plans for a graduation party, saying, “Everyone expects me to be fine and I can’t.”
Her mother also said she will not be able to forget what she saw in her own home.
“I only remember seeing these four kids lying on the floor shot,” she said.
The victims of the shooting have since been identified as De’Arreis “DD” Smith, 18, a senior at Hancock High School, and Haeleigh Stamper, 16, also a student at Hancock
Brand had a criminal history prior to the early Sunday morning shooting, with previous charges including carrying a concealed weapon, possession of marijuana and domestic violence by assault, as well as a charge of violating a protection order
The victims of the shooting have since been identified as De’Arreis “DD” Smith, 18, a senior at Hancock High School, and Haeleigh Stamper, 16, also a student at Hancock.
Kecia Sams, who considered Smith an adopted member of her family, described the teen who was just weeks away from graduating as “a wonderful soul, a loyal friend, brother and uncle.”
“He was loved by many and will be greatly missed by his family.” she told the Sun announces.
a GoFundMe was also set up to help with Stamper’s funeral expenses. It describes her as a “beautiful soul.”
“Her beautiful smile would light up the whole room,” organizer Lillie Smith wrote. “Someone as sweet and adorable as her didn’t deserve this at all.”
Four others were also shot in the rampage, including one who is in critical condition.
Two of the injured are Hancock High School students and two others are Bay High School students.
A motive for the shooting has not yet been determined.
But records obtained by the Sun Herald show Brand had a history of run-ins with the law resulting in charges such as carrying a concealed weapon, possession of marijuana and domestic violence by assault, as well as a charge of violating a protection order.
He was also cited in the past for violating his bond terms, but was a free man when he showed up at the party early Sunday morning.
Authorities have said he fled the scene after opening fire, but was arrested shortly after at his home without incident.