Charleston police on Friday (Dec. 16) announced an arrest in the recent shooting death of a man on Martin Luther King Drive.
Casey Collins, 46, of Eskridge St., Charleston, has been charged with murder in connection with the Nov. 29 early-morning incident, according to Police Chief Jerry Williams II.
He is being held on a bond of $250,000 set by Municipal Judge Tara Lang, the chief noted, adding that Collins is scheduled to appear before Lang Monday for a preliminary hearing.
The shooting for which Collins is charged claimed the life of fellow Charlestonian Willie C. White, 41, of Boclair Drive.
White was shot once in the back with a small-caliber weapon after speaking with another subject, now presumed to be Collins, in the 300 block of King Drive near Shade Street. The shooting occurred just after 1 a.m. and White died a short time later in the emergency room at Tallahatchie General Hospital. His body was sent for autopsy.
Initially, Williams said no evidence was found at the scene. Residents of a nearby house, identified as friends of White, had told police that the victim and another male subject were standing in or near the street talking before approximately three to four gunshots rang out. One of White's friends drove him to the ER.
The chief said the breakthrough in the case happened after investigation by the Charleston Police Department and Mississippi Bureau of Investigation turned up eyewitnesses who are residents of the area where the shooting occurred.
They came forward Dec. 9 to provide information, Williams added.
"What we're told is that Collins and White were involved in an altercation, and during the altercation there was gunfire," the chief said, noting that the eyewitnesses said they could not determine what the two men were arguing about.
The episode played out along a dark stretch of King Drive, but Williams said the eyewitnesses positively identified Collins.
"It was dark, but they know Mr. Collins, they saw Mr. Collins and heard Mr. Collins," he noted.
When police wanted to find the man who had been fingered as the assailant, they did not have to look far.
Williams said Collins was already behind bars at the Tallahatchie County Jail, having been taken into custody less than 11 hours after the Nov. 29 shooting on outstanding Tallahatchie County warrants issued by First District Justice Judge Steve Ross.
"He was picked up for false pretense and malicious mischief, and during that arrest he was charged with two additional charges of narcotics possession," the chief explained.
Williams said Collins, who has a prior history of drug-related offenses, was served with an arrest warrant on the evening of Dec. 14 charging him with White's murder.
Collins is not a suspect in other episodes of gun violence that have occurred this year along a narrow corridor of King Drive. A case in which two men sustained gunshot wounds while traveling the street in a moving car remains unsolved.
"From what we understand, Mr. White and Mr. Collins had had an issue for a couple of weeks before this happened. They had been into arguments before," Williams said.
The chief added that police do not know the nature of the ongoing dispute.
Williams said lawmen executed a search warrant at Collins' residence but no weapon was recovered.
"The investigation is still ongoing just to try to get more evidence," he noted. "If anybody knows anything, we would like for them to come forward."
Williams said the eyewitness input that led to Collins' arrest was crucial, and he wished more people with information would step up and cooperate with authorities.
Admitted the chief, "We usually don't have anybody to come up, but they did, thank God."
Anyone who has information for law enforcement may call Williams directly on his city cellphone at 662-375-2983, the Charleston Police Department at 662-647-5841, or the Tallahatchie County Sheriff's Office at 662-647-3700.
