Fifth suspect arrested in college-town brawl fought on church’s lawn

Published 9:06 am Monday, September 16, 2019

A fifth suspect has been arrested and charged after a video of a brawl involving dozens of young adults broke out in a Mississippi college town last weekend on the lawn of a Catholic Church.

Starkville Police reported late last week the arrest of Elijah Nelson of Biloxi, who is charged with simple assault.

Nelson’s arrest is the fifth arrest stemming from a fight captured on video early Sunday morning, September 8, 2019, on University Drive, in Starkville. The fight happened on the lawn of St. Joseph Catholic Church and a video of the melee was shared widely on social media, prompting the police investigation.

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Four other men were arrested for their alleged roles in the brawl.

Those arrested earlier included:

• Nathan Cvitanovich, 22, of D’Iberville, Mississippi;
• Dakota Husser, 23, of Biloxi, Mississippi;
• Stephen Jernigan II, 22, of Lake Village, Arkansas;
• Harrison Porter, 22, of Ridgeland, Mississippi.

All four were charged with simple assault.

The Commercial Dispatch newspaper in Columbus reported Cvitanovich, Jernigan and Porter are students at Mississippi State University. Husser and Nelson are not students.

The video shows what appears to be dozens of young adults fighting with some yelling, throwing people on the ground and punching them.

Anyone with additional information on the fight is asked to contact the Starkville Police Department at 662-323-4131 or Golden Triangle Crime Stoppers at 1-800-530-7151