A Tunica County man has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for illegally possessing ammunition in connection with a 2023 homicide.
On Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Michael P. Mills sentenced 44-year-old Korea McKay to the statutory maximum of 15 years imprisonment. The sentence will run consecutively to a separate 48-month sentence McKay is already serving on a 2020 Desoto County case.
According to evidence presented at trial, McKay shot and killed Davao Thomas on February 18, 2023, at the Kirby Estates apartment complex in Tunica County after Thomas told him to slow down. Two shell casings were recovered at the scene.
Investigators say McKay fled in his truck, which was later found hidden in Dundee, Mississippi. He was initially arrested on a state warrant for murder, but later charged federally as a felon in possession of ammunition. Records show McKay had multiple prior felony convictions and was identified as a high-ranking member of the Vice Lords gang.
At sentencing, Judge Mills called the case “the most outrageous” he has seen in 25 years, citing the daylight killing and McKay’s violent history.
U.S. Attorney Clay Joyner praised the outcome, saying,
“Removing a violent, repeat offender like Korea McKay from civilized society will go a long way toward keeping citizens safe.”
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Tunica County Sheriff’s Department, and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation investigated the case, which was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Samuel Stringfellow and Julie Addison.
The case was part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative, a nationwide program aimed at reducing violent crime and gun violence.
