Devonte Wesson, 18, a Black male from Jonesboro, Arkansas, was shot on the afternoon of November 22, 2021, near the intersection of Countryview Circle and South Caraway Road on the city’s south side. Officers responded to reports of gunfire around 3:30 p.m. and soon learned Wesson had arrived at a local hospital with critical injuries. He died four days later, on November 26, 2021.
Investigators announced an arrest on December 1, 2021: Deangelo Yandell Lewis of Jonesboro was booked into the Craighead County Detention Center in connection with the shooting. At the time, police described the case as stemming from the November 22 attack that ultimately became a homicide upon Wesson’s death.
Subsequent reporting tied the gunfire to an encounter near the Southside Softball Complex, with accounts indicating Wesson had been sitting in a vehicle with Lewis and another individual when he was shot in the head. Early charges included first-degree murder; later proceedings reduced the count to second-degree murder.
In August 2025, Lewis pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Craighead County Circuit Court and received a 15-year suspended imposition of sentence—meaning no prison time so long as he follows the terms of his release. As part of the plea agreement, additional counts, including committing a terroristic act and criminal mischief, were dropped. Coverage of the court outcomes also noted separate, unrelated cases in which Lewis received other sentences.
Community tributes and public records of gun-violence incidents later documented Wesson’s death and the timeline from the shooting to his passing, marking the location and date while confirming the case’s transition to a homicide investigation after he died.
