A man who set another man on fire and a man who shot into an apartment were both sentenced to prison Wednesday in separate cases before Lowndes County Circuit Court, according to District Attorney Scott Colom.
Robert Earl Farmer Jr., 30, pleaded guilty to attempted murder, Colom said. Judge Lee “Jay” Howard sentenced Farmer to 20 years, 15 to serve and five suspended, in the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
On July 13 Farmer got into an altercation with the victim that turned violent, Colom said. He held the victim down, doused him with lighter fluid and set him on fire.
The victim suffered severe burns, Colom said.
Farmer was indicted by a Lowndes County grand jury in October.
In a second, unrelated case, a jury on Wednesday found Davonte Wells, 36, guilty of shooting into an occupied dwelling. Judge Jim Kitchens sentenced him to 10 years, with four suspended, as well as five years post-release supervision for a charge of felon in possession of a weapon.
Wells’ trial started Monday, and he was convicted after about two hours of deliberation, Colom said.
Wells got angry after his former girlfriend wouldn’t answer the phone and fired several shots into her apartment, Colom said. Nobody was injured.
Wells had previously been convicted in Lowndes County for sale of cocaine in 2007 and possession of cocaine in 2018.
Wells was indicted in October 2020.
“Our hope is that today’s mandatory sentences for these serious, violent offenses will bring justice and closure to the victims harmed by these two terrible crimes,” Colom said. “The verdict also continues my office’s trend of an over 80% conviction rate at trial, showing our office can be trusted by victims and the public to get justice from juries.”
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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.
Join the Discussion