A 20-year-old woman was shot near the hip Tuesday morning at the Medina at Mallard Creek Apartments in Horn Lake, and police quickly arrested her boyfriend, 20-year-old Cortez Bradford, on charges of aggravated domestic assault and possession of a stolen weapon. She was first rushed to a Memphis hospital in critical condition before later being listed as stable.
Officers Responded Within Minutes of 8:28 a.m. Call
According to DeSoto County News, officers were dispatched at approximately 8:28 a.m. Tuesday to 7197 Mallard Creek after a report that someone had been shot. Investigators determined that a domestic altercation had occurred between the woman and Bradford, who police identified as her boyfriend, as reported by Action News 5.
Police said Bradford fired a single shot that struck the woman near the upper hip. She was transported to Regional One Trauma Center in Memphis in critical condition, per the same account from DeSoto County News. The outlet later reported that she was listed in stable condition at Regional One Medical Center.
Suspect Arrested at the Scene
Bradford was arrested at the scene and charged with aggravated domestic assault and possession of a stolen weapon, the DeSoto County News report states. Investigators located and seized the weapon used in the shooting, according to the same account. A separate report from Dark Horse Press noted that Bradford is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
A Pattern Mississippi Lawmakers Are Trying to Track
The shooting lands amid a broader reckoning over domestic violence in Mississippi. A review by Mississippi Today found more than 80 domestic-violence incidents in 2024 that resulted in at least 100 deaths, with most victims being women killed by current or former partners and most perpetrators men. The outlet reported that most of those compiled deaths involved a firearm, and that more than a dozen perpetrators died by suicide during the incidents, with at least two children also killed.
As of January 2025, Mississippi was among the states without a domestic-violence fatality review board, Mississippi Today reported. Two bills introduced that year, House Bill 1551 and Senate Bill 2886, proposed establishing a Mississippi Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board to study why such cases keep turning fatal.
