An 18-year-old was arrested Monday and charged with murder after two people were found dead inside a home in Attala County’s Zama community. Isaiah Reeves appeared at the Attala County Sheriff’s Office with his attorney and was taken into custody in connection with the deaths of Johnny Ray Reeves II, 38, and Nicole Massey, 39.
That arrest is the first major step forward in a case that had already gripped the county since Sunday afternoon, when deputies and EMS were sent to the residence at about 4:58 p.m. after someone arriving at the home found a man and woman unresponsive. The victims were later identified by Attala County Coroner Sam Bell as Reeves and Massey, and their bodies were sent to the state crime lab for autopsies.
Authorities have said little about what led to the deaths, but the charge now filed against Isaiah Reeves is first-degree murder, a standard that points to an allegation of intentional killing rather than an accidental death. Sheriff Curtis Pope said the suspect is the nephew of Johnny Ray Reeves II, a detail that gives the case a sharper edge inside a family already dealing with two losses.
Reeves is being held at the Leake County Correctional Facility on a $2 million bond while the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and the Attala County Sheriff’s Office continue to investigate. The case now turns on what investigators found between Sunday’s discovery and Monday’s arrest, and whether the evidence they gathered is enough to explain why one family member is accused in the deaths of another.
