Prosecutors said Randall Smith’s actions after the shooting undermined his claim of self-defense.
JACKSON, Miss. — A black storage box, dried blood, bleach and a recorded confession shaped the murder trial of Randall Smith before a Hinds County jury deadlocked in the killing of Jackson State University student Flynn Brown.
The case ended in a mistrial April 9, not because jurors doubted that Smith shot Brown, but because they could not agree on the level of the crime. Smith is charged with first-degree murder in Brown’s Dec. 2, 2022, death. The mistrial left prosecutors with a choice: bring the case again, seek another resolution or leave the charge pending while the court sets future dates.
Prosecutors built their case around what they said happened after the gunshot. They told jurors that Smith did not call 911, summon help or report an attack. Instead, witnesses and officers said, he cleaned a bloody dorm room, changed clothes, placed Brown’s body into a box and moved it from the seventh floor of John W. Dixon Residence Hall to a vehicle outside. Hinds County Assistant District Attorney Briana Keeler said in closing that those steps showed a cover-up. “Bleach is not the smell of fear,” Keeler said. “Bleach is not the smell of panic. Bleach is certainly not the smell of self-defense.”
Smith’s defense did not deny that he shot Brown. Defense attorney Kevin Dale Camp told jurors the shooting followed a fight between roommates and that Smith believed he was defending himself. In a recording played at trial, Smith said Brown took doughnuts from him and the dispute turned physical. Smith said Brown choked him and overpowered him. He told investigators he went for a gun and shot Brown in the head. “I can’t fight this man,” Smith said in the recording. Camp argued the evidence did not disprove that account beyond a reasonable doubt.
The physical evidence gave jurors a grim map of the morning. Officers testified that Smith pulled the box about 75 yards toward the parking lot, leaving bloodstains along the way. Prosecutors displayed the black box in court, and dried blood could be seen inside it. Officers who searched the residence hall room said they found blood on the sink and smelled a strong odor of bleach. Smith admitted in his statement that he changed clothes and cleaned the scene. Prosecutors said a person acting in lawful self-defense would not hide the body or try to erase blood from the room.
Amari Ward, who lived with Smith and Brown, supplied the central eyewitness account. Ward testified that Smith and Brown had seemed fine the day before the killing and were playful with each other. The next morning, Ward said, he heard loud music coming from their room. When he entered, he saw blood on the floor and on a gray tote. He then saw Brown’s Dodge Challenger parked outside and heard dragging noises. Ward told jurors he saw Smith tugging a black box with a sheet over it. Ward, who was on Jackson State’s football team, told a coach, and the coach alerted campus police.
The testimony placed the killing inside a student residence hall, a setting built around daily routine. Smith was from New Orleans, and Brown was from New Jersey. Both were Jackson State students. Brown had transferred after attending a two-year college in Pennsylvania and had hoped to play football at the university. He was 22 when he died. Smith was 20 at the time and later stood trial at 23. The roommates lived in Dixon Hall, and prosecutors said the shooting happened in their shared living space before Smith moved Brown’s body downstairs.
The medical examiner confirmed that Brown died from a gunshot wound to the head. Other details were disputed through argument. Smith said Brown had been bullying him and that this was the second physical fight between them. Prosecutors said the claim did not make Brown a deadly threat at the moment Smith fired. The state pointed to the path of the investigation, the cleaning and the disposal of the body. The defense focused on the size and strength difference Smith described, his statement that he was being choked and his repeated claim that the shooting was self-defense.
Jurors began deliberating after hearing those competing accounts. About three and a half hours later, they sent word that they could not reach a verdict. Judge Adrienne Wooten asked whether more deliberations would help. Eleven jurors said no. At least three said they were willing to return the next day, but the court did not continue deliberations. Wooten said the court had an obligation to decide whether more time could help or whether a mistrial was required. She then declared the trial over without a verdict.
The split came down to the charge, according to jurors who spoke after court. They said all 12 believed Smith was guilty, but they differed on whether the facts supported first-degree murder or a lesser offense such as second-degree murder or manslaughter. That distinction matters because first-degree murder generally requires proof of deliberate design, while lesser homicide charges can reflect different findings about intent, heat of passion or culpability. The jury’s disagreement meant the state did not secure a conviction and Smith did not receive an acquittal.
Brown’s family reacted with anger and grief after the mistrial. Michele Hill-Brown, his mother, said the fight for justice was not over. Michael Brown, his father, said the family had sent their only child from New Jersey to Mississippi and now had to keep returning to court. The family has also sued Jackson State in a wrongful death case, alleging the university failed to act on earlier warning signs involving Smith. Those allegations remain separate from the criminal case, but they add another unresolved front to Brown’s death.
The next step belongs to prosecutors, who must decide whether to retry Smith. Until that decision is announced, the case remains open, the first-degree murder charge remains pending and the evidence that filled the courtroom has produced no final judgment.
Author note: Last updated April 30, 2026.