Gunned down on a Sunday morning
Aleia Hardy has two names tattooed on her left arm: "Elvin" and "Alina."
"Alina is my daughter," she said.
But Elvin Butler, the other namesake, is gone.
INTERACTIVE MAP: Jackson homicides in 2017
Butler was sitting in a chair at a friend's house on Gentry Street in Jackson Sunday when police say a man walked right up into the yard and shot him.
Neighbors say Charles White was telling them to "get out of the way" as he walked up, and everyone was running for cover. Butler, 38, was shot, and then made it to the other side of a downed tree in the back.
Hardy, her face stoic but tear-stained, stood at the scene with neighbor Anita Shaw as they, along with dozens of others, took in the reality.
Asked if they knew Butler, a heartbreaking conversation ensued.
"Me personally, he was my husband," Hardy said.
"That was your husband?" Shaw asked, visibly taken aback.
"My daughter’s father. He was a good man for the most part, I can’t complain," Hardy said, clearly searching for words and finding none that reflected the gravity of the emotions her face betrayed.
Shaw was still processing the information. "Wait a minute. He shot your husband?"
"Elvin is my baby’s father. Me and Elvin was married," Hardy said, starting to unravel.
"That’s what I’m saying, the guy that got killed?" Shaw asked.
"The guy that got killed is my husband," Hardy replied. Tight-lipped, she looked at the ground.
"Oh, Jesus," Shaw replied.
White, who police say is in his 60s, is in custody.
Neither police nor neighbors and friends could say why White would allegedly want to shoot Butler.
Jackson Police Department Cmdr. Tyree Jones said the shooting occurred just after 8 a.m. in the 1200 block of Gentry Street.
Neighborhood residents said friends would gather there every week, sometimes more than once a week, to fellowship and listen to music.
"We were sitting there and everyone was just sitting around and talking, having fun early in the morning," said Anthony Palmer. "When I walked to my vehicle, the guy came around the corner saying, 'Get back.'"
Others at the gathering said they weren't sure who White was allegedly going for, but they were all scared.
"I got down. And he saw where the guy is at and he fired one shot, and I'm hoping the dude can run, because I'm running," Palmer said. "So he fired one shot and he hit him."
Another neighbor described where Butler was shot, and pointed to an area on the other side of a fallen tree.
"Where you see that crushed black thing, that's where he fell," said the man, who did not want to be identified, as he pointed to a plastic planter smashed on the ground.
Residents said they told police they saw exactly who fired the shot that killed Butler, and that it was White. They knew him. He lived a street over. Members of his family lived right across the road from the home where Butler was killed.
"He's been coming around here all our lives," said neighbor Anthony Richardson. "He was born and raised right on that other street."
"I thought I was in a movie, I thought I was dreaming. I said, 'Man did that really just happen?'" said Palmer. "It made me think about who I hang with now. I’ll be staying at home, because I’m too old for that. If someone gets mad at you they can walk up and shoot you, they can do that?"
Butler is Jackson's 24th homicide for 2017.
If you have knowledge of this crime, please call JPD at 601-960-1234 or Crime Stoppers at 601-355-TIPS (8477). Send a text to 847411 and enter "JPD," followed by your tip information, then press "send." You may also submit a tip online by clicking on the web tip link on the homepage of the Central MS Crime Stoppers website, or submit your tip information from a mobile device or any other computer by going to www.P3tips.com.
Contact Therese Apel at 601-961-7236 or tapel@gannett.com . Follow her on Facebook and Twitter .