Kingston Frazier Murder: Three Teens Facing Capital Murder Charges In Shooting Of Mississippi 6-Year-Old


The brutal murder of Kingston Frazier, a 6-year-old Mississippi boy, has shocked the nation since news of the crime broke Thursday morning. The shocking, almost unthinkably cold slaying was allegedly perpetuated by three teenage suspects who had stolen Kingston’s mother’s car from a Kroger parking lot at around 2 a.m.. When the car, which had been left running and unlocked in the grocery store parking lot, was taken, little Kingston Frazier was sleeping in the backseat.

According to Kingston’s mother, Ebony Archie, she had just run into the store to grab a few items. Video surveillance indicates she was inside for less than 15 minutes. After discovering her vehicle missing, Archie reported the theft to police. As The Clarion-Ledger reports, in a Thursday news conference, Victor Mason, the Hinds County sheriff, made a “false statement” to the media regarding the timeline of events. Mason reportedly claimed that when Kingston Frazier’s mother initially reported the vehicle theft at 2:30 a.m., she failed to mention that her son had been in the car (a silver 2000 Toyota Camry) when it was taken. Prior to the press conference, there had been widespread questions in the media regarding a delay in issuing an Amber Alert in the abduction of Kingston Frazier.

“When we found out later that there was a child in the back, we immediately notified the Highway Patrol (who) put out an Amber Alert.”

However, according to Jackson Police Department Commander Tyree Jones, that timeline of events was inaccurate. In a statement Friday, Jones said that his department got a call at 1:28 a.m. and were asked to, “assist Hinds County with an auto theft and child abduction in the Kroger parking lot.” This indicates that first-responders knew right away that 6-year-old Frazier had been in the car when it was stolen. The Jackson Police Department began notifying the public of the situation almost immediately.

According to Velma Eddington, Ebony Archie’s aunt, her niece reported her son missing immediately to a deputy who had been parked in the Kroger parking lot at the time of the crime. Eddington claims that Archie had seen the parked police officer in the Kroger lot before entering the store, and when she exited to find the vehicle and Kingston gone, she sought him out and reported both her car and her child stolen right away.

“She told (the deputy) right then that the car was missing and her baby was in it.”

Reportedly, before stopping at the Kroger, Archie had just picked Kingston Frazier up from a family member who had been babysitting him while she had been out celebrating her birthday with family and friends. Velma Eddington claims that Kingston’s mother told her family that when she told the deputy about her missing car and child, he seemed either to not hear what she was saying or not care that Kingston had been kidnapped. In fact, she claims that Kingston Frazier’s mom believes that the officer’s response to her report may have contributed to her son’s murder.

“Ebony said the man did not listen to her. He could have probably just followed the car right then and her baby wouldn’t be dead. She said he told her he had to follow protocol.”

An Amber Alert was finally issued in the kidnapping of little Kingston at 4:28 a.m. Just over five hours later, at approximately 9:30 a.m., Ebony Archie’s stolen Camry was found on a back road. Six-year-old Kingston Frazier’s body was found in the back seat: he had been shot. Prior to his abduction and murder, Kingston had been scheduled to graduate from kindergarten on the day of his death.

It has been reported in the local media that the initial “false statements” made by the Hinds County Sheriff had the consequence of spawning “rampant rumors and accusations of involvement by the child’s family.” At this point, investigators have not indicated that they believe 6-year-old Kingston Frazier’s family had anything to do with his abduction and murder, despite what is being shared on social media.

“It’s rumor and speculation, conjecture. Do not put any stock in what you’re seeing in social media. The investigation is early on, and what is being put out on social media is untrue and not factual.”

Indeed, a joint investigative effort by the Hinds County Sheriff, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, and the Jackson Police Department led to the arrests of three teenage suspects in the horrific crime within hours of the discovery of Kingston’s body. According to the MBI, authorities are confident that the teens they’ve arrested are the one’s responsible for the murder of Kingston Frazier.

The suspects in the senseless crime are 17-year-old Dwan Diondro Wakefield, 17-year-old DeAllen Washington, and 19-year-old Bryon McBride, Jr. Authorities claim that Bryon McBride, Jr. is the man who fired the shot that ended the 6-year-old’s life. All are being held at the Madison County Detention Center and are expected to have their initial appearance in the Madison County Justice Court on Monday to face capital murder charges in the case of Kingston Frazier. Madison-Rankin District Attorney Michael Guest says he will attempt to ensure that bail will be denied for all of the murder suspects.

As the Washington Post reports, while authorities have suspects in the murder of Kingston Frazier, what they don’t have is a motive in the child’s slaying. Investigators don’t know if the suspects knew that Kingston was in the back seat when they allegedly stole his mother’s car, but they don’t understand why the alleged thieves felt the need to kill Kingston rather than simply letting him go or leaving him alive in the car when they abandoned it.

“Other than it just being somebody being mean and evil and cruel, I’m not seeing a motive begin developed as to why these individuals would have killed this child. That’s probably something we’ll never get. We’ll probably never learn a motive as to why this occurred.”

Kingston’s great-aunt, Velma Eddington, has similar questions for the teens who allegedly murdered her 6-year-old great-nephew.

“Everyone that was praying for us, that we would find Kingston alive, we want to thank everybody for that, but this is, really, this is, it’s hard to know that people out there are evil, that would kill a child. That’s evil,. That baby hadn’t done anything to him. That baby hadn’t done nothing. They could have left that child on that back seat, asleep. They didn’t have to kill him. Those people are evil. Evil.”

An autopsy was completed on little Kingston on Friday. According to Madison County Coroner Alex Breeland, the 6-year-old’s cause of death was “multiple gunshot wounds.” District Attorney Guest says there are still questions that remain, like whether or not Kingston Frazier was awake when he was shot.

“We do believe he was shot in the back of the car. Whether he was asleep or awake, I don’t have any idea.”

Guest did reiterate that Kingston’s mother is not a suspect in her son’s murder, despite social media rumors, and that he believes that Kingston was “definitely” alive when the Camry was stolen from the Kroger parking lot.

“I have absolutely no evidence to indicate that she had any involvement. There’s nothing that would indicate, to me, that she was aware or that she participated in the abduction and death of her child.”

Investigators have also said that they are “unaware” of any connection between Ebony Archie and the three suspects accused of the murder of 6-year-old Kingston Frazier, whose classmates celebrated their kindergarten graduation without him on May 18.

[Featured Image by Madison County Sheriff’s Office via AP Images]

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