Of the 12 murder investigations in Meridian and Lauderdale County in 2016, two remain unsolved.

The Meridian Police Department continues to search for suspects in the murders of Sandeep Singh and Jamarkee Jones.

Singh, 22, died in an armed robbery at the Highway 19 North ExxonMobil gas station where he worked on Oct. 21.

Police released video of the armed robbery in hopes of identifying the suspect. The video shows a man forcing Sandeep to empty the register. Sandeep resisted and the man shot him.

Police discovered the Jones’ body in the abandoned apartments on the 1500th block of 28th Avenue on Nov. 27.

He suffered a gunshot wound to the head and had died a few days prior. Authorities did not find a gun on the scene.

“We are continuing to investigate and working on (these) cases,” Meridian Police Sgt. Dareall Thompson said. “They are still open cases.”

Thompson encourages anyone with leads on these two cases to call Crimestoppers at (855) 485-8477.

Sandeep’s cousin, Inderjit Singh, said in October Sandeep had emigrated from India only five months before his death, seeking a better a life in America.

Family friend Gurpreet Singh set up a Gofundme to try and get visas for Sandeep’s parents to attend the funeral. In November, on the Gofundme, Gurpreet Singh said that the parents could not obtain visas and would not be able to attend their son’s funeral.

Gurpreet Singh said money from the Gofundme would also pay back the loans used to send Sandeep to the United States.

Sandeep was buried Nov. 3 in Canton, Miss.

Law enforcement in Meridian and Lauderdale County have investigated 12 murders in 2016, spanning from Feb. 17 to Dec. 8. None of the 10 individuals arrested have been indicted. All are being held as they wait for further court action. 

The indictment process can take several months. First, a preliminary hearing allows investigators to pursue the case, based on the evidence available.

Investigators then create a case for the district attorney to present before the next available grand jury, which meets every other month. The arraignment follows within a few weeks.

A trial can then take months, even years, to schedule and complete.

Authorities have arrested eight suspects in nine fatal shootings and two suspects for one fatal stabbing in 2016. Eight remain in custody at the Lauderdale County Detention Facility. The remaining two have been transferred to other departments for their alleged crimes.

Arrests include:

• Jarvis Jermain Hampton, 19, for the Feb. 17 murder of Timothy Smart, 20, near 20th Street and 30th Avenue.

• Marquez Green, 18, in the murder of Johnerio Blakney, 21, at the Valley View Apartments at 44th Avenue and Fifth Street on April 1.

• Antonio Gathright, 34, in the May 17 murder of Willie Rowe, 35, at the 900th block of 46th Avenue.

• Tirale Reed in the death of former Mississippi State University wide receiver Chris Smith, who died at the Frank Berry Courts Apartments on 42nd Avenue on July 15.

• Henry Javada Clemons for the murder of Iam Simon David. Police found David’s body on Russell Drive, near the Highway 39 overpass, on Dec. 4. Clemons was arrested by United States Marshals in San Antonio, Texas. Police also charged and arrested Sherry Renee Wilson with accessory after the fact.

• Jermarcus Shaquille Grace in the Dec. 5 murder of Adrian Seals at the intersection of 13th Avenue and 20th Street. Grace violated his probation and has been transferred to the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.

The Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Department investigated four murders this year. 

• On July 2, the department investigated the death of Thomas Price, who died from stab wounds suffered after an attack in his home off of Old Highway 494. Law enforcement arrested and charged Matthew Perry Hasson, 51, and Selena Ann Roberts, 43, for the murder of Price.

• Christa Maria White, 31, died on Sept. 1 on Whippoorwill Road. Deputies arrested and charged Diamonte Derron Scott, 24, with murder and the attempted murder of another victim, who survived. The Sun Herald newspaper reported Scott was found in Harrison County Sept. 5 in a rental car that smelled of marijuana and had a double-barrel pistol in the glove box, according to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court. Scott has been charged with a federal firearms crime and has been transferred to their custody.

Scott is a felon, convicted of a burglary in Lauderdale County on Nov. 17, 2009. He received a four-year prison sentence with the prison term suspended in lieu of four years of probation.

• Deputies arrested and charged four people in the Dec. 8 murders of Lonnie D. Lyles, 35, and Delvrico Leveril Rigsby, 26, in the 8600th block of Highway 19 North. Authorities charged Jason D. Clayton with two counts of murder, and charged Jaelin Lashwan Price, 19; Schwonda Denise Rogers, 32; and Melissa Jeanis Taylor, 27 with accessory after the fact.