A Picayune man pleaded guilty to the second degree murder of his cousin and was sentenced to 30 years in state prison Friday.

Malcolm Nixon, 29, pled Friday to the murder of his cousin, Justin Tobias Nixon, before Circuit Court Judge Anthony Mozingo in a case that began on Feb. 27, 2018, according to a press release from the office of 15th District Attorney Hal Kittrell. Mozingo sentenced Malcolm Nixon the same day as his plea.

According to previous coverage, 28-year-old Justin Nixon’s remains were found on Feb. 28, 2018 behind a home on Jarrell Street by officers with the Picayune Police Department more than 20 hours after he was shot. Before that discovery, concerned family members called police because rumors were circulating that Justin Nixon had been shot but no one knew his whereabouts.

Detectives conducted an investigation into the death of Justin Nixon and determined that at approximately 7 p.m. Tuesday Feb. 27, 2018 Malcolm Nixon and Justin Nixon engaged in a physical altercation in front of Malcolm’s home located at 304 Jarrell St., before Justin Nixon fled the area on foot, according to previous coverage.

After Justin Nixon fled, Malcolm’s mother ,Mahala Burkett, allegedly handed Malcolm a gun, which he took and followed Justin Nixon down Jarrell Street, before shooting him somewhere between the 300 and 200 block of Jarrell Street, according to previous coverage. Police believed that after Justin was shot, he ran to a yard at 203 Jarrell Street and later succumbed to his injuries.

According to previous coverage, three people were initially arrested in relation to the investigation. Malcolm Nixon was arrested for first degree murder, and his girlfriend Ashlyn Cheramie and Burkett were both arrested for hindering prosecution. Burkett was also arrested for accessory before the fact of murder. Charges against Cheramie and Burkett were dismissed in exchange for Nixon’s plea, said Kittrell.

A year after Justin Nixon’s death, his family, friends and neighbors gathered on Jarrell Street to remember him, according to previous coverage.

The release states that members of the victim’s family expressed appreciation to Detective Lt. Rhonda Johnson for her dedication in the case at the Greater Picayune Area Chamber of Commerce Police and Firefighter’s Awards Luncheon held earlier this month. The family’s spokesperson condemned the senseless violence that led to Justin Nixon’s death, the release states.