Sitting in the front yard of her Artesia home Wednesday, Latecia Shelton was keeping one eye on her two of her three children as they drove a toy truck around the yard. Just down the street from her residence, crime scene tape still fluttered in the wind where it was blocking off 23 Mobile Dr. — the scene of a grisly triple murder the day before.
Shelton was at work Tuesday at about 4 p.m. when another neighbor called 911 to report shots fired at the mobile home. Law enforcement arrived to find resident Demario Snell, 31, along with Mauricio Nance, 22, and Tyshun Bernard Fields, 24, all dead of gunshot wounds.
It was a crime Shelton feels would have happened “anywhere else” but Artesia.
“It seems unreal,” she said. “It’s like a dream.”
Down the street on the other side of the crime scene, a lifelong Artesia resident visiting a relative who lives in Snell’s neighborhood, said she couldn’t even think of one person being murdered in her hometown, much less three.
“Not here,” said Emma, who did not want to give her last name. “If (Artesia) ever had problems, it happened way back in the day before our time.”
The investigation
The suspect in the case, Clark Allen, Jr., 20, of Oktibbeha County, was in custody Tuesday night. Authorities confirmed Thursday morning he was charged with capital murder for the three shootings.
Investigators held a press conference in Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office Wednesday morning, asking for further information from the public.
“If you know anything, give us a call,” Lowndes County Sheriff Mike Arledge said. “It may not seem significant at the time, give us a call.”
While Arledge said investigators believe the suspect knew the three victims, he declined to release a motive for the shootings.
However, investigators also said Artesia residents are cooperating with law enforcement still investigating in the town.
“For the most part, we have people talking to us,” said Major Greg Wright, who is head of LCSO’s criminal investigation division. “A lot of times you’re going to have — not just in the Artesia community but any community — people are going to be a little reluctant to talk with the sheriff’s department or law enforcement personnel. But for the most part people are wanting to find out who did this. They’re wanting them held accountable.”
‘Hurting everybody’
Though Nance lived in Columbus and Fields in Crawford, all three victims were originally from Artesia. Law enforcement declined to comment on how they all knew each other, but Nance’s mother, Tessie Poindexter, said Nance and Snell were second cousins.
“Both (my cousin and I) lost a son,” she said. “Both of us lost our only son.”
Nance’s uncle, Hason Price, said while his family is obviously grieving, so is the rest of Artesia.
“It’s hurting everybody,” he said. “Because everybody knows everybody. We never thought anything would happen like that. … (Especially) in the daytime.”
A candlelight vigil for the victims and their families is planned for downtown Artesia at 6 p.m. Friday. The congregation at Beulah Grove Full Gospel Baptist Church, where two of the victims were members, also held a prayer service for the community Wednesday night. Church pastor Timothy Bourne, who led the service, urged attendees to pray both for the victims and their families and for the shooter.
Bourne said after the service that Artesia is the sort of community where people set aside their difference and support each other when tragedy strikes.
“At the end of the day, we need each other,” he said. “At the end of the day, I may not be as strong as you and you may not be as strong as me, but together we are strong enough to get through trying times. And I think that’s what we’re seeing here in this community. Sometimes you don’t see this in large cities because of the largeness of them. But this small close-knit community, when you have a tragic event that takes place, it’ll pull you together.”
That attitude doesn’t surprise Emma, whose brother was hospitalized after he was attacked in Starkville.
“We were in Tupelo with him at the hospital,” she said. “We didn’t know if he was going to live or not. Turns out, they were down here having a little candlelight thing for him. … We didn’t know anything about it until afterward. They were praying for us. … Some people don’t know how to do that. But this is Artesia. Artesia pulls together.”
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