By Tiffany Flournoy
UPDATE — SPRINGHILL, La. — Jaden Eugene Hill, 19, who Springhill police say traveled from the Shreveport-Bossier area to Springhill early Thursday morning with Al Jewel Myles III, was arrested Tuesday, Aug. 18, in Bossier City for Springhill Police. Just hours after the pair arrived in Springhill last week, Myles was found dead inside the Camelot apartment of Jerrica Brown.
Hill’s arrest was not in connection with Myles’ death.
Bossier Parish jail records identify Hill’s primary charge as “FUG FUGITIVE ARREST / SPRINGHILL PD.” The Bossier City Police Department is listed as both the arresting and booking agency. Hill was booked into the Bossier City Jail at 7:09 p.m. Tuesday and was listed as in custody at 7:34 p.m.
Springhill Police Chief Will Lynd confirmed Tuesday that Hill was in custody in Bossier City. Lynd said Springhill police provided Bossier City police with information about Hill’s alleged whereabouts after receiving information about where he might be.
According to Myles’ mother, Mellissa Robinson, she found out Hill’s whereabouts and notified Springhill Police of his location days ago.
Last week, at the scene of the Myles shooting incident Lynd said Jerrica Brown told authorities that Hill left the apartment in Myles’ vehicle before police arrived.
Hill was being sought by Springhill police in connection with an earlier, unrelated case at the same apartment complex.
The warrant stems from an alleged July shooting at Camelot Apartments in Springhill, the same complex where Myles was found dead last week.
According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Bennie Holifield arrived at Springhill Medical Center with a gunshot wound to his lower back and was later airlifted to Ochsner LSU Health in critical condition.
Investigators alleged surveillance footage showed Holifield and Hill involved in an altercation at Camelot Apartments that escalated into a physical fight and struggle involving a firearm.
Holifield later identified Hill as the person who shot him, according to the affidavit.
Springhill police subsequently obtained a warrant accusing Hill of illegal use of a weapon during a crime of violence. The warrant carries a $125,000 bond.
The July shooting allegation and the matter for which Hill was arrested Tuesday are separate from the circumstances surrounding Myles’ death. Hill has not been charged or arrested in connection with Myles’ death.
Myles’ death
Myles was pronounced dead shortly after 3 p.m. Thursday at Camelot Apartments, according to Lynd.
Lynd said authorities determined Myles died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Lynd said he recovered a Glock 9mm handgun that was still in Myles’ hand, along with an empty shell casing and a spent round.
Lynd said additional evidence and circumstances surrounding the shooting were considered in determining the wound was self-inflicted. Some details were not included in this report because of their graphic nature.
Myles’ mother, Melissa Robinson, disputes that conclusion.
“I’m not sensitive right now when it comes down to this. I want full justice. My son did not kill himself,” Robinson said.
Robinson said the autopsy report lists Myles’ death as a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Since Thursday, she has been trying to piece together what happened inside the apartment the day her son died.
Brown told authorities that Hill left the apartment in Myles’ vehicle before police arrived.
Robinson learned Thursday that her son’s vehicle had been taken from the scene. Police later contacted her and told her the vehicle had been located at Swan Lake Apartments in Bossier City.
When Robinson went to the apartment complex, she found Myles’ vehicle still running with the radio on, she said. She recorded video documenting what she found.
Lynd said Myles “only had his phone on him” when he was found and did not have identification on his person.
Robinson said her son had two phones and that his wallet and car keys were not with him.
This week, Robinson said she located Myles’ wallet, his other cellphone and a smartwatch in the back seat of his vehicle.
Saturday morning, Robinson went to Brown’s apartment at Camelot Apartments and spoke with her about what happened. Robinson said she was allowed inside the apartment, where she saw the blood-stained pillow and Myles’ blood-stained white T-shirt still strewn about the room.
Robinson said she also found traces of blood on the driver’s seat and steering wheel of Myles’ vehicle.
Robinson said she believes the person who left the scene in her son’s vehicle is responsible for his death.
On Monday, while on her way from Springhill, Robinson told me she had been able to view photographs from the scene and discuss some of her concerns with Lynd. Among those concerns was how a photograph of her son came to be circulating on social media.
Robinson had previously called me Friday afternoon after learning that a photograph of her son’s body was circulating online. She provided the photograph and questioned who took it and how it came to be shared.
It was not immediately clear who took the photograph, who first shared it or whose phone is visible in the image.
Robinson said she believes her son was set up and that someone else is responsible for his death.
“I want to know the full story of what all happened in that apartment the day my son died,” Robinson said.
“Jaden called my phone the day after my son died. He offered me his condolences. According to him, my son shot himself after being given gummies,” Robinson said.
“Jaden and Jerrica have both told me their stories and something is just doesn’t sit right with me about what is said to have gone on in that apartment. Then for Jaden to lie on me. He told Jerrica he left in my son’s car because I kept calling about bringing the car to me, according to her.
That’s not true… And that was my son’s car not mine… And at the time Jaden said all this to Jerrica I didn’t even know my son was dead.”
Robinson said the stories are all on recording.
” He left my son there to die, because when the police first arrived on the scene, my son was not dead , my understanding he was barely alive… And Jaden left in my son’s car. He didn’t bring it to me. He left it at Swan Lakr apartments and apparently jumped out of it so fast that he left the engine running and the radio on…,” she said.
Why Myles was being sought by Shreveport Police
Earlier Thursday, Aug. 13, the Shreveport Police Department publicly identified Myles as wanted on allegations stemming from a TikTok video in which investigators said he threatened to sneak up on and shoot a Shreveport police officer.
According to the department, investigators identified Myles as the person in the video, in which what appeared to be the grip of a firearm was visible.
Myles was being sought on allegations of cyberstalking and threatening a public official.
About the reporter: Tiffany Flournoy is an independent investigative journalist and contributing writer for multiple news outlets, including the Webster Parish Journal, with experience covering government accountability, courts, public safety and justice issues across Louisiana. Her ongoing investigative reporting examines municipal operations, transparency and public accountability.
