A festive Saturday night at a horse show in the Wall Hill area of Byhalia, Mississippi, took a tragic turn on April 11, 2026, ending the life of 56-year-old Gary Poplar Sr. Poplar Sr., a Black/African American man from Benton County, was attending the event on private property when gunfire erupted between 10:30 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. When deputies and medics arrived at the scene, they discovered Poplar Sr.
had been fatally shot.
The investigation, led by the Marshall County Sheriff's office and the Violent Crimes Task Force, quickly uncovered details of a verbal altercation Poplar Sr. had with another man at the event shortly before the fatal shooting. That man was identified as 52-year-old Milton Lashon Burton of Byhalia. In a surprising development, Burton turned himself in to the Marshall County Jail on the Sunday following the incident.
Following his surrender, Burton was charged with the murder of Gary Poplar Sr. After an arraignment in justice court, his bond was set at $500,000. Burton subsequently posted the bond and was released from custody. The shooting was one of three separate shooting incidents that occurred in Marshall County that same weekend.
