A Mississippi judge sent Cameron Brand to prison for life plus 40 more years. The sentence came after Brand pleaded guilty to killing two teenagers at a prom after-party in 2023.

Judge Christopher Schmidt handed down the sentence Thursday in a Gulfport courtroom. Brand faced two counts of first-degree murder and four counts of aggravated assault. He is now 19 years old.

The case drew wide attention along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. It shows how one night of drinking and gunfire can end young lives and change a small town forever.

Brand was 18 when the shooting happened. Early on April 30, 2023, gunfire broke out at a prom after-party near Old Blue Meadow Road in Bay St. Louis. About 100 people were at the party that night.

Two teens died. De'Arreis Smith, 18, was shot in the back of the head. A 16-year-old girl was also killed. She was shot several times. Four more teens, ages 15 to 18, were hurt in the shooting. Investigators say 17 shots were fired that night.

Assistant District Attorney Jeremy Necaise laid out those details for the court. He said Smith was shot in the back of the head. He said the other teen killed was hit multiple times.

Brand told the court his "mind was clouded" that night. He said he had been drinking and smoking marijuana before the party. He claimed he and Smith had traded threats on social media earlier. He said Smith walked up to him at the party, and he started shooting. He kept firing until the gun was empty.

After the shooting, Brand threw away the gun and ran. Police caught him soon after at his home in Pass Christian.

Court records show Brand had been arrested twice before, in 2022. Waveland police picked him up once on a domestic violence call. They arrested him again for carrying a hidden gun.

A grand jury indicted Brand in March 2025. He was set to go to trial. Instead, in March 2026, he entered what is called an open guilty plea. That means he pleaded guilty with no deal on his sentence. The judge alone decided how much time he would serve.

More than a dozen family members spoke in court Thursday. One survivor of the shooting also spoke. They told the judge how the shooting changed their lives.

Former Bay St. Louis Police Chief Toby Schwartz talked about the case. "Nobody expects this," he said. "It's a senseless act." He said people go to parties to have fun. "They're not going there knowing that possibly a volatile, violent and deadly act is going to take place, or they wouldn't have shown up," he said.

The shooting shook the small Gulf Coast town. Bay St. Louis sits in Hancock County, Mississippi, near New Orleans. A prom after-party is meant to be a night of fun for graduating students. Instead, it turned into a crime scene in front of dozens of witnesses.

Brand's sentence closes a case that took more than three years to reach this point. He will spend the rest of his life in prison. The two life terms and the 40 extra years run one after another, not at the same time.

The case is a reminder of how fast a party can turn deadly when guns and anger mix. Families of the victims now move forward without two of their children. The surviving teens who were shot carry those injuries with them.