A man who police believe shot two individuals in a shootout in a parking lot of a Clarksdale business in mid-November made his initial court appearance last week.
Christopher Magsby, 21, of Friars Point, was charged with two counts of aggravated assault as police say he shot two individuals during a shooting Nov. 17 in the parking lot of BeeCee’s Place at 857 Desoto Ave. Extended.
Police said they recovered more than 200 shell casings from 9-mm and 40-caliber weapons in the shootout that left a 27-year-old Clarksdale man, Demarcus Partee, dead.
Magsby is charged with shooting two other individuals, who suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
During his appearance before Municipal Court Judge Derek Hopson on Thursday, Jan. 10, Magsby had his bond set at $80,000 total – or $40,000 on each of the aggravated assault charges. Magsby posted bail and was released from the Coahoma County Jail.
“We got too much killing going on here in Clarksdale,” Hopson said during Magsby’s court appearance. “You may have been caught up in the wrong place at the wrong time, but here we are.”
The Clarksdale Police Department initially opposed bail for Magsby.
“It was a shootout, but Mr. Magsby started the shootout. People may have returned fire, but he was the aggressor,” said CPD detective Kendrick Walker, who believes the shooting was gang-related.
He said they considered Magsby a flight risk and also noted they had to use the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service in searching for Magsby, who turned himself in to the Clarksdale Police Department on Wednesday, Jan. 9.
While saying the aggravated assault charges are “bailable offenses,” Hopson initially denied bail for Magsby as he said they would revisit the case the following week.
However, after a conference by city prosecutor Wilbert Johnson, police officers, public defender Richard Lewis Jr. and Magsby family members, Hopson agreed to offer bail, which was not opposed by police and prosecutors, to Magsby.
Walker said they are hoping to make an additional arrest in the case in regard to Partee’s death, but said it’s been hard to get witnesses to speak about what happened that night.
“People are fearful because they don’t want to be retaliated against,” Walker said.
