Family and friends of multiple murder victims gathered at the Lincoln County/Brookhaven Government Complex Tuesday night to express their discontent with what they called “a corrupt system” of justice with “roots in the Confederacy.”

On Saturday, July 1, 2023, 28-year-old Shanecia Ferdinand and her brother, 30-year-old LaDarius Rockingham, were shot and killed in what Police Chief Kenneth Collins called “some type of domestic situation.” Also killed was the unborn baby Ferdinand was carrying.

This was not the family’s first loss of 2023 — the siblings’ uncle, Jerry Ferdinand, had died in February as a result of the Brookwood Apartments fire.

The shooting suspect, 21-year-old Kelvin White, fled the scene on South Railroad Avenue and was arrested a little while later in the county by Lincoln County Sheriff’s deputies.

White was arraigned the following Monday, charged with two counts of capital murder and one count of first-degree murder, and held without bond. The murders had occurred on White’s 21^st birthday.

The charges were later reduced to three counts of first-degree murder, with bond set at $500,000 for each charge, and White was bound over the Grand Jury. In August 2024, the Grand Jury declined to indict White due to lack of evidence and a claim of self-defense.

Tuesday, Unite 2 Thrive national advocate Emily Dawn Escolas addressed the Board of Aldermen. Escolas said the evidence presented to the Grand Jury was one-sided and only supported the defense of White, rather than the prosecuting details from the District Attorney.

According to family members, White and Ferdinand had gotten into an argument and White “threw her off the porch” at her father’s home. She then called her brother, who got into an altercation with White when he arrived. White allegedly shot both of them before fleeing.

Speaking outside the Government Complex prior to the meeting in an impromptu protest with microphone and amplifier, Escolas and family members said they would call for the resignation of Police Chief Kenneth Collins, detectives involved in the case, and any other person in City leadership who — either through incompetence or intentionality — caused White not to be indicted.

During the Board meeting, Escolas said, “We are calling for the resignation of Police Chief …” before Mayor Joe Cox and Board Attorney Bobby Moak interrupted, telling her that her time at the podium was not to be used to call out specific individuals like that or demand resignations, but to state her complaint. Later in her time, she began to call for the resignation of a detective, and was interrupted again by Cox and Moak.

Escolas was encouraged to schedule a meeting with the Police Chief, Mayor and/or Attorney, but to limit her comments to her stated topic of concern, “public safety.”

A family member identified as “Johnnie” spoke briefly during Escolas’ time at the podium, saying the District Attorney’s office had provided the family with all of the evidence available to them in the case, and that they would use it to prove White’s guilt and obtain justice.