Lamar County Sheriff's Department asked the public for its help to solve a mystery murder almost 2 weeks after Donivan Barnes' family found him laying in the ditch on Westover Drive in Hattiesburg, MS. Donivan, a 26 year old African American was dead on arrival.
Saturday, October 7, 2023, Lamar County Sheriff's Office arrived at the crime scene late Saturday evening. They roped the crime area off with yellow tape. Officers, investigators, Hattiesburg Police Department Crime Scene Unit, and others had determined that Donivan was the victim of a hit and run.
However, there was no evidence of a hit and run. There was actually no evidence of a crime at all. All they had was Donivan's lifeless body laying in a ditch. His phone, Yellowstone Hat, and shoes were laying in the grass in the picture below.
Typically when there is a wreck or crash, there is debris from the vehicle(s) at the crime scene, a point of area at the crime scene of impact if there was a barrier such as guard rails or concrete blockades, and other materials that would indicate that a wreck had taken place. But there was nothing at the crime scene that indicated a wreck or crime had taken place.
According to multiple law enforcement officials, Andrew David Cook, the 23 year old white suspect arrested for killing Donivan, returned to the crime scene with family members the same night of Donivan's murder. Law enforcement stated the family "looked" to see what the accused killer, David Andrew Cook, had admitted he hit, as he claimed he knew he hit "something" but could not find anything when the family went back to search the crime scene.
Still no one called the police to report accused killer Andrew David Cook had an accident, wreck, or to report that any crime had taken place despite multiple people being aware that a crime had been committed as multiple family members had spent time at the crime scene the same night of the crime. Almost two weeks later, Andrew David Cook was charged with "Leaving the Scene of a Crime Resulting in Death" with his bond being secretly set very low at $10,000 by Lamar County Justice Court Judge Bill Anderson. No evidence was found at the crime scene of where Donivan was killed. No one else involved was charged.
All that remain at the crime scene now are red roses left by community supporters in memory of Donivan right above the area his body was found as pictured below.
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