Eighteen-year-old Mia SIms was a recent graduate of Jackson High School. She was shot and killed Sunday, July 27.
Jackson Police officers canvassed the area after the Sunday afternoon shooting near the United People’s Community Church on the south side of Jackson.
By ELIZABETH FERSZT
Contributing Writer
Mia Sims, age 18, joins John Lusch, age 35; Emarion Flowers, age 22; and Anthony Owens, Jr. age 41 – as yet another victim of fatal gun violence this year in Jackson.
Sims was shot through the neck, and was found in a car on the 1500 block of Carl Breeding Way, between Robinson and Wall Streets, on the city’s Southside, on Sunday, July 27.
Jackson Police responded to a shots fired 911 call at approximately 12:45 p.m.; they arrived on the scene to find “an eighteen-year-old female shooting victim in a vehicle suffering from a gunshot wound in her neck area,” according to a press release from JPD.
The “victim was transported to Henry Ford Jackson Hospital, where she died from the injuries she sustained from the gunshot wound,” Police Chief Christopher Simpson stated.
This location is near the United People’s Community Church, in which Sims had allegedly just finished attending Sunday services.
The area is also close to Exchange Club Park (on Mansion Street at Carl Breeding Way), which held the Southside Summer Festival July 26-27.
Ward 1 City Councilwoman, Arlene Robinson responded to the tragic incident: “I am so heartbroken that we are losing so many of our young adults that have so much life to live – As well as those who don’t seem to value a person’s life and family. I had a conversation with other community leaders yesterday (July 26) at the Southside Festival. Our young people near and far really need help!”
Robinson represents Ward 1, the district of the city of Jackson where this latest shooting took place.
Chief Christopher Simpson stated in an email, “At this time of the investigation it does not appear to be related to the Southside summer festival.”
Councilwoman Robinson also said that there had been a shooting at the festival on Saturday but it was unclear as to shooters, or victims if any.
Chief Simpson told Fox 47 in a video, “Because of the community outpour, outcry, they’ve been giving us a lot of information.
“We’ve canvassed the entire area, some people saw more than others, some people heard more than others but collectively we are able to get pretty much what happened.”
Simpson said it’s too early to announce a suspect but there are persons of interest based on the heavy canvassing officers did in the neighborhood immediately after the shooting.
Chief Simpson acknowledged that there had been an exchange of gunfire sometime on Saturday, during the two-day Southside Festival.
Simpson also stated in the press release that they are still very early in the process, and that their “information is based on a preliminary and ongoing investigation, which continues to evolve as [they] interview witnesses, review physical and electronic records, and analyze forensic evidence… [our] understanding of the facts and circumstances may change as additional evidence is collected and analyzed.”
JPD is being assisted by both Jackson County Sheriff and Michigan State Police.
A candlelight vigil was held for the Sims family on July 27. Jackson Mayor Daniel Mahoney can be seen handing out candles to the crowd, in a Facebook video post entitled “Prayers for the Sims Family,” from Dezi Patton. Mia Sims was the mayor’s niece.
Lusch was shot dead on April 20 in a house on Orchard Place; Flowers was shot dead on May 16 on Warwick Street in South Ridge Park Apartments; Owens was shot dead on May 17, one block south of the city limits off of MLK/Francis Street and Lincoln Court.
This makes four victims of fatal gun violence this year in the Jackson metro area.
There also have been several other, non-fatal shootings this year, including an unnamed man on Wilkins Street on April 27; a 23 year old woman on Robinson Street at Merriman St. later in May; and a 15 year old girl off Page Ave. near Denton Rd. on May 16 ; as well as three gunshot wound victims in the Anthony Owens drive-by shooting on May 17.
Sims was a 2025 graduate of Jackson High School.
If anyone has any information about this Homicide, please contact Detective Thomas Tinklepaugh at (517) 768-8637, Lieutenant Pete Postma (517) 768-8633 or Crime Stoppers at (517) 483-7867.
We definitely need better detectives working on these cases. A lot of them never get solved and that’s very sad