Editor’s Note: The following report talks about domestic violence and may be difficult for some readers. The Office Against Interpersonal Violence within the Mississippi Department of Health maintains a hotline for people experiencing domestic abuse. Those who need help can call 1-800-898-3234 or 601-981-9196.
JACKSON, Miss.—Registered nurse Carlos Collins was arriving at his apartment after work on April 9, 2024, in Jackson, Mississippi, when he was shot to death. Prosecutors allege that his ex-boyfriend murdered him.
At the time of his death, Collins had been separated from his ex-boyfriend, former Jackson police officer Marcus Johnson, for about eight months and had filed multiple protective orders against him, Ashla Hudson, Collins’ mother, told the Mississippi Free Press.
“He did what he thought was the right thing to do, and it still led to his demise,” she said on Jan. 28, 2026.
Collins was a well-liked person who “loved his job and caring for people,” his mother said. He was also in dentistry school at the time of his death.
“My son is no longer here because he loved someone—that’s a different type of hurt, and no one should have to be loved to death,” Hudson said.
In the spring of 2024, a Hinds County grand jury indicted Marcus Johnson on the murder of Collins; Johnson pleaded not guilty on Oct. 8, 2024. He is scheduled to stand trial on Feb. 9, 2026. Under U.S. law, Johnson is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
In honor of her son, Hudson became a member of the Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence, which hosted a press conference at the Mississippi Capitol rotunda on Jan. 28 to raise awareness about domestic violence by sharing support for several pieces of legislation.
‘Persistent Domestic Violence Offender’ Registry
Mississippi Sen. Kamesha Mumford, D-Pocahontas, saw at least one domestic violence case a week during her 12 years serving as the municipal court judge for Canton, Mississippi, she told the Mississippi Free Press on Jan. 28.
During her first year on the bench, the former judge said she met a young woman who came to court after pressing domestic violence charges against her boyfriend. The boyfriend did not show up to the hearing and he killed the woman several months later.
When she arrived at the Mississippi Capitol on Jan. 6 and Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann swore her into office, Mumford said one of her first tasks was to craft legislation regarding domestic violence prevention.
Under her bill, Senate Bill 2791, the Mississippi Department of Public Service would create a registry of “persistent domestic violence offenders.” It would include any person in the state who has been convicted of an offense against a domestic abuse victim and has at least one prior conviction for an offense committed against a domestic abuse victim.
The registry would include the offender’s name, date of birth, date of conviction, county of conviction and a current photo, the bill says. The legislation requires the clerk of the court in which the offender was convicted to give DPS a copy of the offender’s driver’s license or another form of state or federal identification.
While the registry would be available to the public, the legislation says it would not include offenders’ Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers or any other state or federal identification number.
While the registry is similar to the sex offender registry, Mumford said DPS would not publicize addresses of domestic violence offenders because it could undermine the safety of victims.
She said she hopes having a public domestic violence offender registry would encourage people to research a person to ensure they are not an offender before they get into a relationship with them.
“Maybe folks will Google search up the registry before they enter into these relationships with other people and decide, ‘You know what? He’s been convicted multiple times of domestic violence. I don’t think I want to date him,’” Mumford told the Mississippi Free Press on Jan. 28.
She sponsored S.B. 2791 with coauthors Sens. Hillman Frazier, D-Jackson, Reginald Jackson, D-Marks, David Blount, D-Jackson, and Theresa Gillespie-Isom, D-Southaven.
The bill faces a legislative deadline on Tuesday, Feb. 3, by which point it must pass out of committee, or it will die on the calendar.
Rep. Charles Blackwell, R-Ellisville, and Sen. Angela Burks-Hill, R-Picayune, have also introduced bills to create a domestic violence registry with House Bill 1312 and Senate Bill 2113 respectively.
Domestic and Dating Violence Education
House Bill 1464 would add domestic and dating violence education to the comprehensive health education curriculum for Mississippi public K-12 schools. If the legislation becomes law, the Mississippi Department of Education would partner with the Mississippi State Department of Health and the Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence to train educators and provide resources for teachers to instruct students about domestic and dating violence prevention.
“Dating violence education shall include, but not be limited to, defining dating violence, recognizing dating violence warning signs and understanding the characteristics of healthy relationships, with instruction emphasizing prevention strategies and respectful communication, and students receiving a copy of the school’s dating violence policy,” H.B. 1464 says.
Reps. Fabian Nelson, D-Byram, and Dana McLean, R-Columbus, cosponsored the legislation. Nelson said he hopes that if his bill becomes law, people can recognize the different types of dating and domestic violence.
“And maybe it can help others identify the many forms that domestic violence comes in because it doesn’t only come in physical abuse—there’s mental abuse, financial abuse,” the representative said at the Jan. 28 press conference.
Another proposal, House Bill 1419, would require people who want to become licensed to practice as professional counselors, social workers, psychologists or marriage and family therapists to complete three credit hours of graduate-level domestic violence education.
Current professional counselors, social workers, psychologists and marriage and family therapists would have to complete two hours of continuing education about domestic violence to be eligible for a license renewal.
Nelson sponsored the bill and said he hopes it could help these professionals look out for any “warning signs” of domestic violence when they are seeing patients and are working in the field.
None of the domestic violence bills has passed out of their respective House and Senate committees. The deadline for bills to pass out of committee is Feb. 3.
Joy Jones, the executive director for the Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence, encouraged lawmakers to pass these domestic violence bills and continue working on legislation that will prevent “future harm” and save lives.
“Prevention is where lasting change happens,” she said at the press conference. “We must invest in education, early intervention and community-based strategies that address domestic violence before it ever escalates.”
Ashla Hudson said if the bills become law, she hopes that police officers will take domestic violence victims “seriously” and enforce harsher penalties against offenders.
“I don’t want any other mother to have to go through this and fight, trying to keep your son in protection,” she told the Mississippi Free Press.