GULFPORT – Six people were arrested between Jan. 22 and Feb. 4 in an ongoing Gulfport Police Department investigation into human trafficking and kidnapping involving a juvenile.
Police said the case began after Child Protective Services reported a complaint involving a runaway juvenile. Officers and detectives located the juvenile safely on Jan. 22, according to the department.
Investigators said 40-year-old Michael Eric Moses was found holding the juvenile in a hotel room against the legal guardian’s wishes. Moses was charged with one count of kidnapping, and bond was set at $250,000.
Authorities said the investigation then found the juvenile was allegedly held against her will between December 2025 and January 2026 and forced to perform sexual acts for profit. Police said 49-year-old Bobby Terrell Mills was charged with one count each of human trafficking, kidnapping, extortion and forcible rape. His bond was set at $1.6 million, according to police.
Police said Mills told detectives that two people had transported the juvenile to him and offered to sell her for about $30 and narcotics.
On Feb. 4, detectives identified 35-year-old Marcus Alan Mann and 60-year-old Richard Sherrol Weir as suspects in the juvenile’s transportation and sale, police said. Mann was charged with one count each of human trafficking and kidnapping, with bond set at $750,000. Weir was charged with one count of human trafficking, with bond set at $250,000.
Detectives later identified two additional suspects, 41-year-old Jeffrey Devon Pruitt and 27-year-old Latasha Ann Smith, according to police. Investigators said Pruitt and Smith transported the juvenile to multiple hotels along the Gulf Coast and in New Orleans for the purpose of sexual exploitation for profit. Each was charged with one count of human trafficking, and each received a $250,000 bond.
The investigation remains ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Gulfport Police Department at 228-868-5959 or Mississippi Coast Crime Stoppers at 877-787-5898.
All defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
