A Starkville woman said she was attacked by her ex-boyfriend as she walked home with a friend earlier this month.
The woman, 22, said Jason Hemphill, 34, jumped on her outside Brookville Garden Apartments and later forced his way into her apartment. She told police he choked her and fired a gun into the ceiling of the apartment.
Arrest warrants were immediately issued for Hemphill, who was arrested last Thursday morning by the U.S. Marshal Task Force, Starkville Police Department and the Oktibbeha County Sheriff’s Office. He is now facing numerous felony charges in relation to the April 11 incident.
Starkville Police were called to the woman's residence after report of shots being fired on Everglade Avenue between 10 and 11 p.m. that night, according to court documents made available through a public records request.
Officers then spoke with Hemphill’s ex-girlfriend, who lives at the address involved in the shooting. She told officers her and a friend were on the way back to the apartment from West Side Market when Hemphill jumped on her and began choking her by the throat.
The victim told officers she was able to get away from Hemphill, but he pursued her back to her apartment. She then said he forced his way into the apartment and began choking her again.
“There was a knock on the door and a visiting friend open the door and he pushed her out the way and charged for me,” the victim said in her statement to police. “We then proceeded in my room, he grabbed the gun that was visible cocked … he pushed me in my closet then I hit him. Somewhere at that time the gun went off.”
The report said Hemphill fired one shot from the .380 caliber pistol into the ceiling of the apartment before grabbing the victim's .22 caliber rifle and fleeing the apartment with both guns.
He was transported to the Oktibbeha County Jail with bond set at $10,000.
If convicted on the home invasion charge, Hemphill could face anywhere from a 10 to 25-year prison sentence. Hemphill could also face up to 10 years in prison with the possibility of fines not to exceed $5,000, if convicted on the charge of shooting into a dwelling.