A Jefferson County grand jury has indicted 15-year-old Mahlek Joseph Barry on first-degree murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charges, more than three months after a shootout at a Beaumont apartment complex left a young mother dead and another woman injured. The case now moves forward.
Beaumont police responded at 2:22 p.m. on June 1, 2026, to a report of gunfire at 2250 West Virginia Street, the address of the Virginia Flats Apartments, according to an affidavit cited by the Beaumont Enterprise. Two people were taken to a hospital by private vehicle with gunshot wounds. One of them, 25-year-old Nastazia Corbin, had suffered a gunshot wound to the head and was flown by helicopter to Memorial Hermann Hospital, where she died from her injuries the following day. Her death was ruled a homicide.
According to the Enterprise's reporting, physical evidence and apartment complex footage indicated that two people had fired shots during the confrontation. Investigators interviewing witnesses learned that another defendant identified Barry as one of the shooters, and police say Barry admitted he obtained and fired a gun during the incident. He was arrested June 2 on a separate directive to apprehend before facing the murder and aggravated assault charges now returned by the grand jury.
A Second Victim Left With a Brain Injury
Corbin, known to loved ones as “Stady,” was a Beaumont mother of three young children, including a two-month-old infant at the time of her death, according to details shared on a video tribute posted to YouTube and a family Facebook memorial. The second bystander wounded that day was identified by family as 24-year-old mother Chyna Ryans, who suffered traumatic facial injuries, according to a report from 12News Now.
Beaumont Police Department detectives established that both Corbin and Ryans were innocent bystanders struck by crossfire while sitting in separate vehicles during an argument between two armed individuals, per The Examiner. Neither woman was reported to have any connection to the dispute that set off the gunfire. An 18-year-old co-defendant, Drevion Anthony Wilson, was also indicted on a murder charge by the Jefferson County grand jury after police affidavits noted he admitted to firing a handgun across the apartment complex parking lot, per 12News Now's reporting.
Charges Escalated as Corbin's Condition Worsened
Wilson's initial charges were upgraded from aggravated assault to first-degree murder only after Corbin died from her injuries at the Houston hospital on June 2, 2026, according to The Examiner's account of the case. That escalation illustrates how prosecutors adjusted the charges against Wilson as the medical status of the shooting victims changed in the day after the gunfire.
Barry faces first-degree murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charges. Under Section 19.02 of the Texas Penal Code, murder is defined; as a first-degree felony under Section 12.32, it carries a statutory penalty range of 5 to 99 years or life in prison, along with a maximum fine of $10,000, according to the L&L Law Group. Barry's case remains in the early stages of prosecution, and no conviction has been reached.
The Shooting's Location
The Virginia Flats complex was the site of the June 1 shooting described in this report.
Barry was indicted by the Jefferson County grand jury on September 16, 2026. The June 1 shooting was reported in Beaumont this year.
The case follows the fatal January shooting tied to Leon Goodman III, which Hoodline covered. As with that earlier case, Barry's prosecution is only beginning, and the allegations against him remain unproven in court.
