Mississippi Murder Suspect May Face Death Penalty for Casino Visitors Kills

Posted on: November 24, 2023, 10:26h. 

Last updated on: November 24, 2023, 10:36h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More
Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

A teenager was charged with capital murder and other counts this week in connection with the death of three victims near a Mississippi gaming property.

Deonte Carnell Taylor
Deonte Carnell Taylor in a mug shot, pictured above. If convicted, he could face the death penalty. (Image: Tunica County Sheriff’s Office)

Deonte Carnell Taylor, 18, of Tunica, Miss., was booked on Wednesday for the November 10 triple homicide in Robinsonville, according to Tennessee TV station WHBQ.

No bail was set in his case, and he remains behind bars late this week at the Tunica County Jail.

If convicted on the fatal shootings, Taylor could be executed, given he was charged with capital murder, according to Tennessee TV station WREG. Or he at least faces life in prison if found guilty.

Additional Counts

Other charges against the teen include four counts of shooting into a motor vehicle and four counts of conspiracy to commit a crime.

Additional unnamed suspects could soon be arrested for the shootings.

The trio were killed while they were in a car near the unnamed casino, according to the Tunica County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO).

The car was shot full of bullet holes and wound up crashing into a utility pole, then burst into flames on Casino Center Drive.

The victims include Tednequa Tenice Moore, 25, of Robinsonville, Deshun Montarrio Isabell, 24, of Tunica, Miss., and Steven Dewayne Burts, 23, of Dundee, Miss.

Moore was pregnant when she was fatally shot, according to the TCSO.

The victims had stopped at a sandwich shop for dinner. They were returning to the casino hotel when the shooting took place.

Victims Followed by Suspects

One of the men in the car was apparently under surveillance by the suspects, WHBQ reported.

“I just don’t understand. If you had a suspect that you wanted to take care of, why would you kill everybody,” Moore’s father, Teddy Moore, told WHBQ.

She was in the car, and they just opened fire on the car. They didn’t give a [expletive] who got hit, which they didn’t, because three people died.”

Teddy Moore heard rumors about his daughter’s boyfriend having a dispute with someone, WHBQ reported.

“Word on the street was, they were saying that him and them guys had been feuding for a while, and a few weeks ago, they shot up the place where he stayed at over there, and I guess they eventually caught up with him,” Moore revealed earlier this month.

Moore said he also warned his daughter that someone was possibly trying to kill her boyfriend and that she should get away from him for her safety.

Robinsonville is about 30 miles south of Memphis, Tenn., and several casinos are in the area.