It has been four years since a life was taken from a Yazoo City family.
The family remains without closure. A son never returned home, and justice remains unserved. All that remains is his memory after his body was found on a gravel road with a single gunshot wound.
This is the story of Darius Woods.
On December 1, 2020, a citizen arrived at an unexpected scene on a gravel road near a dirt pit in Sunflower County. A few feet away from a 1998 Buick Century, the body of Darius Woods was found on the ground.
The normal routine followed with Sunflower County deputies arriving on the scene and a coroner pronouncing death.
But there were still so many questions. The details surrounding the tragic death of the 38-year-old Yazoo City man remain a mystery.
For the Woods family, it is not simply “a case.” Darius was their son.
Darius Woods was born July 19, 1982 to Jimmy and Debra Woods. He was the second oldest of three and accepted Christ at an early age. He attended Yazoo City and Yazoo County public schools. He was active in church and served faithfully at Mt. Calvary Christian Center.
He was well known throughout the community for his vibrant personality and helpful ways. He never met a stranger, and, in him, everyone had a friend. He enjoyed his family, video games, playing basketball, and shooting pool.
And it wasn’t just a case for detective Darrel Saxton, with the Sunflower County Sheriff’s Department.
“This was one of those cases that stay with you,” Saxton told The Herald. “I have never handled a case so frustrating in all my life.”
An arrest was shortly made about a week later by the Sunflower County Sheriff's Department. Investigators arrested Kinyanna Marie Cintado, then 25 years old, of Yazoo City, and charged her with second-degree murder. She would eventually appear before Judge Lisa Bell, and her bond was set at $500,000.
Sunflower County Sheriff James Haywood said his investigators vigilantly worked to solve the mystery of Woods’ death, and it was forensic records that led them to Cintado. He added that no motive was disclosed, and Cintado denied that she killed Woods.
Saxton said Cintado was later released on bond, which he added was her legal right.
But the case then took a turn.
“After working the case and collecting evidence, I discovered that the murder took place in Yazoo City,” Saxton said. “With jurisdiction issues, I passed it on to the Yazoo City Police Department.”
But that is where Saxton’s “frustration” began. At the time, the staff at the Yazoo City Police Department was in a state of constant turnover. For the past eight years, Yazoo City had seen eight police chiefs rotate through the doors at one of the community’s most vital departments. The longest tenure of those was about three years, with most only holding the position for about a year.
In December of 2020, Jay Winstead served as the local police chief. He would resign that following spring citing differences with then-mayor Diane Delaware.
But it wasn’t just the chief post. Investigators and detectives were coming and going within the department.
“There were new detectives in Yazoo City,” Saxton said. “Once you make great contact and leads with one, another one would come on. And you would have to start all over. I think I talked to over 20 people from multiple agencies. I was handing everything over on a silver platter. But there is only so far you could go, even though I worked 90 percent of the case. You just kept hitting brick walls.”
Saxton said there were still bits of evidence that needed to be processed. And with every step of momentum met at the unstable Yazoo City Police Department, two steps would be taken back as the turnover rate continued.
A few articles were also published with other media outlets. Reporters continued to interview the Sunflower County officials. And a new chief arrived at the Yazoo City Police Department, yet again, with the hiring of Joseph Head. But it seemed as if the responsibility of the case continued to be up in the air.
“A lot of what was said in those interviews was not the truth,” Saxton said.
The Herald spoke with current Chief Terry Gann, who has served as the leader of the local police department for the past year. He said that the case is still very active.
“This is still very much an active case,” Gann said. “We are actively building a case, and we are piecing everything together so that all the evidence can lead to a conviction.”
Saxton said he agrees.
“The main thing is that the case stays active, and I think something is being done now,” Saxton said.
Four years later, perhaps the death of Darius Woods will be solved with closure and peace provided to the family. But the question remains as to why the case has been juggled for as long as it has over the years. For the loved ones of Darius Woods, a high turnover rate within law enforcement should not be the silencer in the case of a vibrant young man, and a son, left on a gravel road on a winter night.
