CANTON MEN PLEAD GUILTY TO MURDERING MAN AND HIDING HIS BODY IN A DITCH

Madison and Rankin County District Attorney Bubba Bramlett announced that Calvin Prisley, 50, and Calvin Jones, 49, both pled guilty to their parts in the December 2023 murder of Levor Taylor, 24. Prisley pled guilty to second degree murder and was sentenced to serve twenty five years without the possibility of parole while Jones pled guilty to accessory after the fact to murder and was sentenced to serve ten years in prison. 

On December 24, 2023, officers with the Canton Police Department responded to a call of a black male lying in a ditch. Upon their arrival, witnesses told them two black males got out of a Ford Fusion and moved a body from the trunk into a ditch on the side of the road. Officers identified the deceased as Levor Taylor and went to speak with his roommate, Calvin Jones. Jones stated that Prisley and Taylor had gotten into a physical altercation on December 23, 2023 and Prisley had shot Taylor. Jones also admitted to helping hide Taylor’s body the next day in a nearby ditch. 

District Attorney Bubba Bramlett stated, “Our hearts go out to the victim’s family in this matter. We hope that the two guilty pleas in this matter will give the family some type of closure. We would also like to the thank the citizens of Canton who saw something that didn’t look right and immediately notified law enforcement. Our residents are able to see and hear so much more than the police, and because of that, they are an essential tool to combating violent crime. We need more civilians looking out for each other and their community and cooperating with law enforcement to see real change in our higher crime areas throughout the district.” 

Defendant: Calvin Prisley 

DOB: 05/30/1973 

Defendant: Calvin Jones 

DOB: 06/06/1974