A man from South Mississippi has been charged with two new felonies, including murder, in the death of a Pass Christian woman. He has been arrested before for misdemeanor and felony domestic abuse.
Pass Christian Police Chief Daren Freeman says that 37-year-old Brett Huntley Keel is being held in the Harrison County jail on a murder charge and a second charge of messing with evidence in the case. Keel’s bond was set at $1.5 million by Justice Court Judge Diane Ladner.
The woman who was killed is Joyce Gomez, a 38-year-old mother of two from Pass Christian. Harrison County Coroner Brian Switzer said that an exam is still being done to find out how she died.
Police and Gomez’s friends say that she had an on-again, off-again connection with Keel.
The killing happened in Harrison County, which is why Keel is being charged there. More information about the site is still being gathered.
On Saturday morning, Gomez’s father called the police to say that she wasn’t coming home from Pass Christian as planned. Gomez lived with her dad and his two kids.
On Sunday, Harrison County sheriff’s officers found Gomez’s body off of a dirt path in the woods on W Wittman Road.
Keel is also accused of messing with evidence in the criminal case, but he has refused to give any information since he was arrested on a separate charge on Saturday night.
Hancock County police first caught Keel because he had an open warrant for misdemeanor simple assault domestic violence. The criminal affidavit says that Keel hit a guy in the face and choked him with his hands in October 2024. The attack is said to have happened in Bay St. Louis.
The case is still open.