Jakendrick Bass

Jakendrick Bass, a 21-year-old father and business owner from Jackson, Mississippi, is remembered by loved ones for his beautiful smile and his sweet, caring nature. A Black man known to be a source of motivation for others, he was an alumnus of Peeples Middle School and Jim Hill High School. Ambitious and hardworking, Jakendrick owned Moore's Tree Service LLC, where he also worked as an equipment operator. His family and friends described him as an intelligent, awesome, and kind young man. One person fondly recalled him as one of her "church babies" in his youth. His father's love for him was immense, calling Jakendrick his heart. His life, full of promise and marked by the love of his two children, was cut tragically short in the early spring of 2025.

On the evening of Wednesday, March 5, 2025, the quiet at the Sunset Plaza Apartments in Jackson was shattered by gunfire. Around 8 p.m., officers with the Jackson Police Department were dispatched to the complex, located in the 3500 block of Sunset Drive, following reports of a shooting. When they arrived, they discovered Jakendrick Bass in the parking lot. He had sustained fatal gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Detectives immediately secured the area and began the difficult work of piecing together the sequence of events that led to the young man’s death, as a community was left to grapple with another act of violence.

The Jackson Police Department’s investigation moved swiftly. In the days following the shooting, detectives worked to identify who was responsible for Jakendrick's death. Their efforts soon focused on a single person of interest. On Monday, March 10, just five days after the homicide, the department announced that it had issued an arrest warrant for 20-year-old Lamaja Henderson on a charge of murder. To broaden the search, the warrant was entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database, officially marking Henderson as a wanted person in connection with the case. Police asked for the public's help in locating her.

The search for the suspect did not last long. The day after the warrant was announced, on Tuesday, March 11, 2025, the Jackson Police Department confirmed that Lamaja Henderson had been arrested. Authorities announced that she would be charged with the murder of Jakendrick Bass. Her arrest was part of a series of successful apprehensions by the department, which also announced arrests in two other recent and unrelated Jackson homicides on the same day. While an arrest was made, authorities did not publicly release information regarding a possible motive for the shooting or the circumstances that led to the fatal encounter in the apartment complex parking lot.

The news of Jakendrick’s death brought a wave of grief to his family and friends. In the wake of his killing, those who knew him shared their heartbreak and memories, lighting hundreds of virtual candles in his honor. Messages of love and sorrow poured out, with his father writing, "I love you and miss you dearly son." The loss of a young father, son, and entrepreneur left a void in the lives of many. The investigation into his death remains open, and police continue to welcome any information from the public.

As of March 2025, the case against Lamaja Henderson for the murder of Jakendrick Bass has entered the litigation phase in the Mississippi justice system. Anyone with additional information related to the shooting is urged to contact the Jackson Police Department at (601) 960-1234 or Crime Stoppers at (601) 355-8477.