On a Saturday afternoon in Marianna, Arkansas, the life of Albert Lee Dillard III, a 32-year-old Black male from Forrest City, was tragically cut short. On February 11, 2023, violence erupted at the corner of Martin Luther King Drive and Florida Street, resulting in a fatal shooting that would claim two lives and leave another man wounded. The Marianna Police Department received a 911 call around 2:06 p.m. and responded to the scene of the chaos.
There, they found that Dillard had sustained multiple gunshot wounds. Despite the efforts of first responders, he was pronounced dead at the scene by the Lee County Coroner at approximately 4:15 p.m.
The shooting incident did not spare others. Arthur Hill, a 59-year-old man also from Forrest City, was another victim of the gunfire. He was transported to the Forrest City Medical Center, but he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at 3:30 p.m. A third man, 32-year-old Davalone Taylor of Marianna, was also shot multiple times. He was initially taken to the Forrest City Medical Center in a private vehicle before being airlifted to Regional One Health Medical Center in Memphis for more advanced medical treatment. The bodies of both Dillard and Hill were sent to the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory to officially determine the cause and manner of their deaths.
In the aftermath of the deadly shooting, the Marianna Police Department requested assistance from the Arkansas State Police's Criminal Investigations Division to piece together the events of that afternoon. The joint investigation quickly led to a suspect. Just two days after the incident, on February 13, 2023, authorities arrested 27-year-old Tyler Williams, a resident of Forrest City. Williams was taken into custody and faced serious charges for his alleged involvement in the violent encounter. The charges filed against him included two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Albert Lee Dillard III and Arthur Hill, as well as aggravated robbery and first-degree battery. The case was set to be submitted to the Lee County Prosecutor's Office as the investigation continued.
