Lowndes County Circuit Court dismissed aggravated assault charges against a Columbus man accused of shooting at two men with a rifle in 2019 after one of the victims was arrested for the other’s murder last month.
However, the defendant will still spend time in prison for other state and federal charges.
Kevis Kwesi Hill, 20, pleaded guilty on Nov. 17, the start of the most recent Lowndes County Circuit Court term, to possession of cocaine and was sentenced to eight years in Mississippi Department of Corrections after prosecutors retired the two aggravated assault charges. In 2019, a Lowndes County grand jury indicted Hill for all three charges after he allegedly shot at Tarcari Walker and Jetavis Williams on March 19, 2019. Both Hill and a co-defendant in the case claimed Walker and Williams were shooting at them and that they shot back in self-defense.
However, Walker was shot dead on Nov. 9, and Williams was arrested and charged with his murder less than a week later. Between the self-defense claim, Walker’s death and Williams’ pending charges, prosecutors decided to dismiss the assault charges, District Attorney Scott Colom said.
“It’s a sad story,” Colom said.
Eight years is the maximum sentence a defendant can receive for possession of cocaine in Mississippi, Colom said. Hill also faces a 57-month sentence, to run concurrently with the sentence for possession, after pleading guilty to the federal charge of being a fugitive in possession of a firearm, according to federal court documents. Colom said in that case, Hill was charged for taking a weapon across state borders.
During the most recent term, the court also dismissed a conspiracy charge against Shanice Nottage, 28, who was arrested in 2018 after she was accused of attempting to help her boyfriend, Joshua Murry, escape from Lowndes County Adult Detention Center.
Murry, 29, was being held in the jail for a murder charge without bond due to a previous Mississippi Department of Corrections hold. According to court records, the only evidence against Nottage was a recording of a phone call in which Murry asked her to call the jail pretending to be an MDOC officer and ask that the hold be removed. In the phone call, Nottage told him she would do it but never actually did.
Murray’s own conspiracy charge in the case was retired in October after he was convicted of the murder of Starkville resident Jarrell Ward, 24, in 2018. He was sentenced to life in prison.
Colom said because of Murry’s sentence, he did not think it was a “good use of the criminal justice system” to continue prosecuting Nottage.
“I thought it best just to let it go,” he said.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
