Clarksdale recorded another homicide last week, its fifth of the year and the second in the space of a week.
Police responded to 729 Riley Street at 2:25 p.m. Thursday on reports of a man being shot and found Tommy Lindsey with a gunshot wound to the head.
Lindsey was flown to a hospital in Memphis where he was pronounced dead.
Clarksdale Police Chief Sandra Williams said Lindsey’s niece, Shuntaye Johnson was taken into custody and the weapon believed to be used in the shooting was recovered at the scene.
Williams said a disagreement over construction work Johnson was overseeing is believed to have led to the shooting.
Johnson has been charged with murder and was arraigned in Clarksdale Municipal Court on Friday.
Fourth murder
Clarksdale Police are seeking information on the death of a man who was found on a city street with a gunshot wound to the back on Aug. 25.
Clarksdale Police Chief Sandra Williams said police were called to Sunflower Avenue and 13th Street about 3:30 a.m. Tuesday on a report of a man lying in the street.
Police found Larry Levell Mitchell, 29, face down in the street with a gunshot wound to the back. Coahoma County Deputy Coroner Mack Harris pronounced Mitchell dead at the scene.
Chief Williams said the incident is under investigation and anyone with information about this incident can call the Clarksdale Police Department at 621-8156, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or simply dial 911. All calls remain anonymous and cash is paid to those providing information that leads to solving this crime.
This was Clarksdale’s fourth homicide for 2020.
Third homicide
The community recorded its third homicide for 2020 with the death of a local man on May 28.
Police were called to the 100 block of 17th Street about 11:45 p.m. Thursday after a citizen called saying a man was lying in the street and had been shot.
Officers found Glynn Busby, 50, of Clarksdale, at the scene with a gunshot wound to the head.
Pafford Ambulance was called to the location, but medical personal were unable to revive Busby. He was pronounced dead at the scene by Deputy Coroner Mack Harris.
Police arrested Aurthor Young, 64, in connection with the shooting.
Second homicide
Clarksdale’s second murder this year saw a 25-year old shot in an alley in west Clarksdale April 22 and two have been arrested in connection with that crime.
Police were called to the 600 block of Catalpa Street about 11 a.m. in reference to a shooting and found, Robert Johnson, a black male, suffering a severe gunshot wound.
Johnson was immediately transferred to Merit Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
On Saturday April 25, Maurice Calhoun turned himself in to Clarksdale Police. On April 27, police arrested Trevarius Smith, 26, in the 200 block of West Second Street. Both men were charged with the murder of Johnson.
First homicide
Clarksdale’s first homicide of 2020 saw Brunley McDowell formally charged in January with the stabbing death of her husband following an incident at her home. Clarksdale police responded to a call of a man deceased on a front porch in the 1400 block of Herrin Street Monday morning Jan. 6 and while there were no initial signs of trauma a later examination by Coahoma County Coroner Sonny Meredith determined the man died violently.
Clarksdale recorded 12 murders in 2018 and churches and neighborhoods joined with police to stop the violence and help authorities. Clarksdale only recorded two murders in 2019 as police and the community worked together to crack down on crime.
