Jurors heard Randall Smith admit he shot Flynn Brown, but they split over what crime the evidence proved.

JACKSON, Miss. — A Hinds County judge declared a mistrial April 9 in the first-degree murder case against Randall Smith, a former Jackson State University student accused of killing his roommate, Flynn Brown, after jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict.

The mistrial kept one of the university’s most closely watched campus homicide cases from ending more than three years after Brown, 22, was found dead in a vehicle on campus. Smith, who was 20 at the time of the shooting, remains charged in Brown’s death. Prosecutors must now decide whether to try the case again.

Jurors deliberated for about three and a half hours before telling Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Adrienne Wooten they could not agree. Wooten questioned the panel in open court about whether more time would help. Eleven of the 12 jurors said further talks would not lead to a verdict, though at least three said they were willing to return the next day. Wooten said the court could not force a decision from a deadlocked jury. “Based off of what has taken place here on tonight, the court is going to grant a mistrial,” Wooten said before ending the trial.

The deadlock did not appear to turn on whether Smith shot Brown. Jurors later told reporters all 12 believed Smith was guilty, but they disagreed over whether the case proved first-degree murder or a lesser charge, such as second-degree murder or manslaughter. That divide made the closing arguments central to the failed verdict. Hinds County Assistant District Attorney Briana Keeler told jurors Smith’s conduct after the shooting showed guilt, not fear. Defense attorney Kevin Dale Camp said the evidence pointed to self-defense and did not cancel out Smith’s account of being attacked first.

The case began Dec. 2, 2022, when Brown’s body was found inside a Dodge Challenger parked on Jackson State’s campus. Brown, of New Jersey, and Smith, of New Orleans, were suitemates in John W. Dixon Residence Hall. Testimony placed the two students on the seventh floor of the residence hall before the shooting. Prosecutors said an argument over doughnuts turned violent, ending when Smith fired a gunshot into Brown’s head. A medical examiner testified Brown died from a gunshot wound to the head. Smith told investigators he shot Brown during a fight, but prosecutors argued Brown posed no deadly threat.

During the trial, jurors heard a recording in which Smith admitted he killed Brown and moved the body. Smith said he was eating doughnuts when Brown took them, leading to a fight. He told investigators Brown choked him and overpowered him. Smith said he went to get a gun and came back before firing. “I can’t fight this man,” Smith told investigators in the recording. He also asked whether he could go to jail for self-defense. Prosecutors said the statement did not match the physical evidence or his later actions.

One of the strongest pieces of testimony came from Amari Ward, who lived with Smith and Brown. Ward told jurors he heard loud music on the morning of the shooting and went to the room. He said he saw blood on the floor and on a gray tote. He also said he saw Brown’s Dodge Challenger outside and heard dragging noises. “I seen the Challenger parked outside, and I heard the dragging noises, and I seen him tugging the black box with a sheet over it,” Ward said. Ward, a Jackson State football player, told one of his coaches what he had seen. The coach notified campus police.

Investigators described a scene that prosecutors said showed an effort to hide the killing. An officer testified that Smith dragged the black box about 75 yards to the parking lot, leaving bloodstains along the way. Prosecutors showed jurors the box, which had visible dried blood inside. Officers who searched the room reported a strong smell of bleach and blood on the sink. Smith also admitted changing clothes and cleaning the room. Keeler told jurors in closing that bleach was not the smell of fear, panic or self-defense, but the smell of someone trying to erase what happened.

Camp gave jurors a different reading of the same conduct. He said Smith’s actions after the shooting were not proof that the shooting itself was murder. Camp argued that Smith acted after a fight in which Brown choked him and that prosecutors had not disproved self-defense. After the mistrial, Camp said the defense had hoped for an acquittal and would be ready if prosecutors bring the case again. He said Smith was disappointed and that both Smith and his family wanted closure. “That didn’t happen,” Camp said. “We’ll have to figure it out a different way.”

Brown’s parents, Michele Hill-Brown and Michael Brown, left court without the final answer they had waited years to hear. Hill-Brown said after the ruling that the family would keep fighting for justice. She described her son as athletic, friendly and kindhearted. Michael Brown said the trial’s end deepened the pain of sending an only child from New Jersey to Mississippi and not seeing him come home. Brown had transferred to Jackson State after attending a two-year college in Pennsylvania and had hoped to play football. His obituary described him as faithful, confident, generous and inclusive.

The mistrial also leaves separate questions outside the criminal case. Brown’s parents have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Jackson State, accusing the university of failing to protect him after earlier problems involving Smith. The lawsuit claims school employees were told about troubling behavior but did not take enough action before Brown was killed. Jackson State said after Brown’s death that student safety was a top priority and that the campus community was grieving. The civil lawsuit is separate from the murder charge and does not decide Smith’s criminal guilt.

Smith was returned to the Hinds County jail after the mistrial. Prosecutors had not announced a retrial date as of April 30, leaving the first-degree murder charge pending and Brown’s family waiting for the next court setting.

Author note: Last updated April 30, 2026.