A man accused of shooting his coworker at the Yokohama Tire Manufacturing plant in Clay County is going to prison, according to District Attorney Scott Colom.
Willie Swain Jr., 43, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder Thursday morning in Lowndes County Circuit Court, Colom said. Judge Lee Howard sentenced Swain to 40 years – 30 years to serve with 10 years suspended.
Swain was convicted of killing Javarest Gray, 28 on Feb. 22, 2023. On the day of the shooting, Clay County Sheriff Eddie Scott told The Dispatch Swain and Gray got into an argument in the parking lot of the Yokohama campus. Colom said Swain then allegedly got his gun out of his vehicle and shot Gray.
“Whatever conflict they had at work was definitely not worth taking somebody’s life and ruining his own life,” Colom said.
While Swain initially fled the scene, he turned himself in to the sheriff’s office the next day.
Gray was the stepson of Starkville Fire Chief Charles Yarbrough. Colom said Gray’s family was satisfied with Swain serving 30 years, as a part of the plea deal he accepted.
“Whenever you’re talking about somebody that lost their child, no amount of time is going to… heal that trauma,” Colom said. “But as far as what the legal system can do for them, they were satisfied with that.”
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