On Wednesday, July 30, 2015, Kenneth Daves’ life was taken prematurely in a shooting at his family store, K&M Grocery, in Black Hawk. According to a Greenwood Commonwealth story dated one day later, July 31, 2015, the night of the incident at approximately 9:30 p.m. Daves’ was discovered unresponsive on the floor behind the counter of his store by a customer and was later pronounced dead. Carroll County Sheriff of the time, Jerry Carver, reportedly stated that Daves appeared to have been shot with a large-caliber weapon, likely a handgun. Sheriff Carver also stated that despite Daves being found with a large amount of cash on his person as well as in the store’s register, they were unwilling at the time to rule out a robbery attempt gone wrong. The autopsy of Kenneth Daves was performed by the Mississippi Crime Lab in Jackson on the Thursday immediately following his murder. It was determined that Daves was shot twice and likely died of his wounds.
Despite assistance on the case from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and many outside entities, the key component in the nine-year-ongoing murder case is still missing. At the Monday, July 1, 2024 Board of Supervisors meeting at the Carrollton Courthouse, the Board heard from Daves’ surviving family members regarding the ongoing case.
Sheriff Clint Walker introduced the issue to the Board, stating, “Kim was murdered a few days before my first election to office. Over the years, I have worked to develop leads and even had other outside investigators look at this case. The family has waited for justice for a long time. As we approach the nine-year anniversary, I am asking the Board to raise the reward and revive efforts to close this case. Somebody knows who is responsible for this murder. Somebody either has first-hand knowledge, or they have good information about it. Any information is appreciated. If you know something, we need to know it.”
Following Sheriff Walker’s introduction, the family of Kenneth Daves spoke to the Board directly, represented by his daughter Jessica Cortez. At this time Cortez recounted the events of the night her father was murdered and reminisced about the closeness of her family prior to his death.
“It is simply not fair. He should be here. Someone somewhere is living with the guilt of taking this amazing man from his family and friends. Today, I am here to tell you: you do not need to live with this guilt anymore. We are still hurting, and we will never be able to move on to the next stage of grief until the case is solved and an arrest is made. We live day in and day out wondering Who? And Why? I would not wish this on my worst enemy – including the person who did this to us. I beg you to come forward. I ask that if you are not the person who did this but know of any information, please come forward. No matter how small a detail is, it could be the missing piece to the puzzle,” Cortez stated.
After the Board heard from the family and gave their sympathies, a unanimous vote was made to up the reward offered for information to $10,000. This reward, offered by Carroll County through the Sheriff’s Department, is in addition to the $11,000 reward offered by the family of Kenneth Daves. A total reward of $21,000 is being offered to anyone who can give information that leads to an arrest and conviction in the case of Kenneth Daves murder.
If you have any information, please contact Sheriff Clint Walker at 662-310-7233 or call the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office at 662-237-9283.
