A deadlocked jury extended a yearslong wait after Brown was killed in a Jackson State dorm.
JACKSON, Miss. — Flynn Brown’s parents walked out of a Hinds County courtroom April 9 without a verdict after a judge declared a mistrial in the murder case against the former Jackson State University student accused of killing their son.
For Michele Hill-Brown and Michael Brown, the mistrial meant the criminal case remained unfinished more than three years after their 22-year-old son was found dead on campus. Randall Smith, Brown’s former roommate, is charged with first-degree murder. Jurors said they could not agree on whether Smith’s admitted shooting of Brown proved that charge or a lesser homicide offense.
Brown had come to Jackson State from New Jersey after attending a two-year college in Pennsylvania. His family said he hoped to play football and was looking forward to returning home for Christmas when he was killed. His obituary described him as faithful, confident, generous and football smart, and said he supported friends fully. Brown was an only child. After the mistrial, his mother said the family would not stop pressing the case. She said Smith was jealous of her son’s athleticism, personality, friendliness and kind heart. “We’re going to get justice,” Hill-Brown said. “It’s not over.”
The courtroom result was not a finding that Smith was innocent. Jurors deliberated for about three and a half hours before sending a note saying they were stuck. Judge Adrienne Wooten asked whether more time would help them reach a unanimous verdict. Eleven of the 12 jurors said it would not. At least three said they were willing to return the next day, but the judge ruled that the panel was deadlocked. She declared a mistrial, leaving prosecutors to decide whether to try Smith again.
Outside court, Michael Brown spoke as a father who had waited since Dec. 2, 2022, for a jury to decide the case. He said his son had been sent from New Jersey to Mississippi and never came home. He questioned a system that could hear days of testimony and still fail to reach a final answer. His comments followed emotional testimony and argument about how Brown died, how his body was moved and what Smith did in the dorm room after the shooting.
The state’s case centered on a killing inside John W. Dixon Residence Hall and the attempt to move Brown afterward. Smith and Brown lived as suitemates on the seventh floor. Jurors heard that Smith told investigators an argument began when Brown took doughnuts from him. Smith said Brown choked him and overpowered him. Smith said he went to get a gun, returned and shot Brown in the head. In the same recording, he asked whether he could go to jail for self-defense and said he could not fight Brown. Prosecutors said Smith’s story did not justify the shooting.
Amari Ward, another suitemate, gave jurors one of the clearest views of the moments after the gunfire. Ward said Smith and Brown had seemed playful the day before Brown was killed. On the morning of the shooting, Ward heard loud music and went toward the room. He said he saw blood on the floor and on a gray tote. He then noticed Brown’s Dodge Challenger outside and heard dragging noises. Ward testified that he saw Smith tugging a black box covered with a sheet. Ward told one of his football coaches, who notified campus police.
Investigators said the black box was not a minor detail. Prosecutors presented it in court as evidence, with dried blood visible inside. Officers testified that Smith moved the box from the residence hall toward the parking lot and left bloodstains along the path. Another officer said the room smelled strongly of bleach and that blood was found on the sink. Smith admitted he changed clothes and cleaned the scene. Hinds County Assistant District Attorney Briana Keeler told jurors those acts showed consciousness of guilt, saying bleach was the smell of someone trying to erase what happened.
The defense asked jurors to separate the shooting from the panic that followed. Defense attorney Kevin Dale Camp argued Smith believed he had acted in self-defense during a fight with a larger roommate. He said Smith’s later decision to move the body and clean the room did not prove first-degree murder. Camp told jurors prosecutors had not shown anything that negated self-defense. After the mistrial, he said Smith and Smith’s family were disappointed and had hoped for an acquittal. He said they would be ready to face the case again if prosecutors retry it.
The mistrial added to the Brown family’s broader claims about what happened before the shooting. In a wrongful death lawsuit, Brown’s parents accused Jackson State of neglecting their son’s safety after earlier incidents involving Smith. The lawsuit says university employees were told about problematic behavior involving Smith and roommates but failed to take steps that could have protected Brown. Jackson State, after Brown’s death, said the loss of a young person was devastating and that safety remained the university’s highest priority. The civil case is separate from the murder prosecution.
Brown’s death also remains part of a painful period for the Jackson State community. The shooting happened on campus, where students were preparing for exams, holidays and campus events. Brown’s body was found in a vehicle in a parking area near student housing. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and campus police investigated. University officials said at the time there was no further threat to campus, but the discovery left students and families confronting the reality of a homicide in a place where students lived, studied and built friendships.
Because the jury did not reach a verdict, Smith faces the same first-degree murder charge unless prosecutors change course. No retrial date had been announced as of April 30. Brown’s family left court saying the fight would continue, while the case returned to the calendar without the final judgment they had expected.
Author note: Last updated April 30, 2026.