The Mississippi Attorney General’s Office has ruled that a DeSoto County Sheriff’s Department lieutenant and three deputies were justified in using force during a fatal Nesbit shooting in October 2025, closing the state review of the incident nearly a year later.
The office announced its finding Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, in a statement covering three officer-involved shootings that took place in Mississippi in 2025. One of them was the Oct. 19 shooting on Bankston Road in Nesbit that killed 18-year-old Rylee James Westmoreland.
What Happened on Bankston Road
According to information from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI), deputies were called to a home on Bankston Road in Nesbit shortly after midnight on Oct. 19, 2025, for a noise complaint at a large gathering of teenagers. Witnesses told deputies that someone at the gathering had been firing shots.
Deputies identified that person as Westmoreland. MBI reported that when deputies saw him run into the woods, they ordered him to drop his gun. He allegedly came out of the woods and pointed the gun at the deputies, and they opened fire. Reports say no one else was injured.
The Attorney General’s Nesbit Shooting Finding
Under Section 45-1-6 of the Mississippi Code, MBI investigates officer-involved shootings and sends its findings to the Attorney General’s Office for review. After reviewing the MBI investigation, the office concluded that the use of force by the lieutenant and three deputies was justified.
DeSoto County Coroner Josh Pounders, as quoted by Action News 5, said Westmoreland “gave them no choice but to defend themselves.”
What Remains Unknown
The names of the lieutenant and deputies involved were not given in the reports we reviewed.
DeSoto County News has not reviewed the full Attorney General’s statement or the MBI report.
It is not clear whether the Sheriff’s Department plans any further administrative review.
DeSoto County News will update this story if the Sheriff’s Department or the Attorney General’s Office releases more information.
Officer-involved shootings in Mississippi are investigated independently by MBI rather than by the agency whose officers were involved, and the Attorney General’s review is the final state-level step in that process.
