A pregnant mother of three who crouched behind a couch to seek safety from stray bullets Thursday night was shot to death when a dispute over a video game erupted in gunfire.

The homicide was the second in Vicksburg in 24 hours.

Denise Jackson, 25, 2634 Ken Karyl Ave., who was 4 1/2 months pregnant, was struck once in the neck by a stray bullet while hiding in her living room, Vicksburg Police Lt. Bobby Stewart said. The fatal bullet was one of four fired into her home.

Jackson was pronounced dead at the scene at 6:02 p.m., Warren County Deputy Coroner Kelda Bailess said. It is the fifth homicide in the city this year; four were from gunshots. In 2007, the city recorded seven homicides from gunshots.

The suspect, Eric DeShawn Jackson, 26, 2609 Grant St., surrendered to police at 5:33 this morning, Stewart said. Police found him at Hunt and Harris streets after he called to surrender, Stewart said.

The suspect and victim are not related, police said.

Eric Jackson was charged with two counts of murder, for the death of Denise Jackson and for her unborn child, Stewart said. He also was charged with shooting into an occupied dwelling, felony weapon possession and four counts of aggravated assault, Stewart said.

The assault charges stem from the fact that four other people – Denise Jackson’s grandfather and her 7-, 5- and 1 1/2-year-old children – were in the house when she was shot.

Eric Jackson was at the Vicksburg Police Department this morning awaiting a bond hearing today in Vicksburg Municipal Court.

Stewart said the gunfire stemmed from an ongoing feud between the families over a PlayStation 2 video game. Stewart said family members were arguing in the street and that turned into a fight before Eric Jackson opened fire with a rifle.

Stewart said investigators don’t know if Eric Jackson was carrying the weapon or left to retrieve it.

The shooting “just doesn’t make sense,” said Dorothy Jackson, Denise Jackson’s stepmother. “And it saddens me that her three children don’t have a mother.”

“All of this just hasn’t sunk in, she said. “We feel anger, grief.”

Dorothy Jackson said her stepdaughter was a manager at a Kangaroo convenience store on Clay Street and that “she was a hard worker.”

When arrested this morning, Eric Jackson already had been sought on a warrant for an April 8 auto theft, Stewart said. The missing car, a 1993 Chrysler New Yorker reported missing from the 1400 block of Hayes Street, was found abandoned two days later near Eric Jackson’s home.

Records from the 9th Circuit District Attorney’s Office show Eric Jackson also had a felony conviction from 2001 for two counts of forgery. He was on five years of probation, but violated that probation in 2003 and was sent to prison. He was released in November 2005, records show.

In Wednesday’s homicide, Devin M. Moore, 23, 106 Meadowvale Drive, was found near death at the end of his driveway after a fight with a neighbor over a property line, police said.

Eric Davis, 34, 112 Meadowvale Drive, surrendered about 30 minutes later. He was to make his initial court appearance this morning.