Chauncey Armstrong

On a Thursday afternoon in Coffeeville, Mississippi, the life of Chauncey Armstrong was brought to a violent end. The 36-year-old Black man was gunned down in the middle of Kennedy Street around 3:30 p.m. on March 30, 2023. The brazen daylight shooting sent a shockwave through the small community where Armstrong was a known figure.

The Coffeeville Police Department and the Yalobusha County Sheriff's Department began an immediate investigation. Authorities credited tips from the public with helping them quickly identify three suspects. The arrests unfolded over the hours following the shooting. Zavion Spearman turned himself in to Coffeeville police on Thursday night. His cousin, Anthony Spearman, was apprehended at 7:52 p.m. at a convenience store on Highway 7, south of Oxford. The final suspect, Anthony's brother Lakedrick Spearman, was arrested during a traffic stop in Oxford just after midnight on Friday morning.

Initially, all three men were charged with first-degree murder. A grand jury later indicted Anthony Spearman and Zavion Spearman for first-degree murder by deliberate design and conspiracy to commit murder, with a joint trial scheduled for December 2024. Lakedrick Spearman was also indicted on the same charges.

The case, however, did not go to trial. Lakedrick Spearman entered a guilty plea to a reduced charge of accessory after the fact to first-degree murder. Then, just four days before their trial was set to begin in December 2024, Anthony Spearman and Zavion Spearman also accepted plea agreements. Both men pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter, and the conspiracy charges against them were remanded to the file.

On January 17, 2025, Anthony Lavell Spearman Jr., who was identified as the shooter, received the most severe penalty. A circuit judge sentenced him to 20 years in prison. This sentence was ordered to run concurrently with a sentence for a previous conviction. With the sentencing, the case into the death of Chauncey Armstrong was officially closed as of January 2025.