NATCHEZ — Quinton B. Brown, 17, may have been shot and killed just a few hours before the Natchez City Cemetery’s gatekeeper made his regular rounds Saturday morning.

A passerby discovered Brown’s body and notified Natchez Police at approximately 7 a.m., Chief Mike Mullins said.

No arrests had been made Saturday night.

Adams County Coroner James Lee said Brown, of 43 Beaumont St., was apparently shot and left in the cemetery to die, and that the body had been there, at most, two or three hours.

According to reports from the NPD, the body was found in the McPherson plot of the cemetery.

Lee said Brown had approximately five gunshot wounds, three in the chest, one in the back and one in the head, and an autopsy has been ordered to confirm the number of times he was shot and the trajectory of the gunshots.

“After my preliminary investigation, it doesn’t look like he was there that long,” he said. “It may have even been less than two hours.”

Lee also said that he believed that the shooting took place in the cemetery.

Natchez City Cemetery Director Danny Brown said the gates to the cemetery are closed between 8 and 8:30 p.m. every day, and that Friday was no exception.

“We had it locked up just like it always is,” he said.

Brown also said that his gatekeeper opened the gates at approximately 6:45 a.m. Friday morning.

“He even passed by the lady who found the body when he left,” he said.

Even though the gates were locked, Brown said there are still many ways for people to get into the cemetery.

“Right at the front the gates are only knee high so people could climb over it,” he said. “We are not completely enclosed all the way around, so people may could have walked around and gotten in.”

Mullins said officers are investigating the case and they are currently working on several leads.

Mullins also said physical evidence was recovered from the scene to help with the investigation.

Lee said it is always a sad thing to see someone so young lose their life.

“This is a brutal murder if I have ever seen one,” Lee said. “You can tell from the crime scene that whoever shot (Brown) wanted him dead. These types of killing are beyond my understanding.”

Mullins asked anyone who has any information regarding the murder to contact the NPD at 601-445-7511 or the Miss-Lou Crime Stoppers at 601-442-5000.