A 2024 workplace shooting in Marshall County has resulted in the gunman being sentenced to 15 years behind bars on a federal charge.
Keena Boyce, 44, of Holly Springs, was sentenced March 13 after previously pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. In addition to the prison time, he had three years of supervised release handed down by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Debra M. Brown.
In June 2024, Boyce was in an argument with a coworker at wood pellet manufacturer Pallet Source Inc. on Mount Pleasant Road when he shot the victim multiple times. The Marshall County Sheriff’s Department responded to the scene and captured Boyce, who was in possession of a handgun. Boyce had previously been convicted of a violent offense in Mississippi and was prohibited from having a gun under federal law.
At the time of the crime, Sheriff Kenny Dickerson said the two coworkers had been in an argument the night before, and it carried over into the next morning.
“[Boyce] had a backpack, and it is believed the person actually had the pistol inside the backpack and was firing through the backpack at the victim as the victim fled inside the plant,” Dickerson told Fox 13 after the shooting.
The victim, whose name was not publicly released, was airlifted to a hospital in Memphis. Boyce was previously convicted on a state charge of attempted murder and is expected to face time for that charge, as well.
“This case is an example of local and federal law enforcement working together to protect the people of this great state,” U.S. Attorney Scott F. Leary of the Northern District of Mississippi said after Boyce’s sentencing. “The Marshall County Sheriff’s Office responded quickly and decisively to this shooting. Thereafter, ATF brought federal assets furthering the prosecution of this criminal for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
“Career offenders commit the majority of crimes, and if they can be taken off the streets, our communities will be much safer.”
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhood, a nationwide Justice Department initiative launched in 2021 to bring together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence.