On the evening of February 23, 2022, Deshauntrall L. Cole, a 31-year-old man from Summit, Mississippi, was shot and killed at the Sunshine Apartments in Magnolia. Cole, known for his work as a handyman, was at the apartment complex to mount a television for a resident. The incident unfolded without any apparent argument or altercation, according to witnesses.
Authorities identified 36-year-old Sedric Elzie, a resident of Magnolia, as the suspect.
After the shooting, Elzie retreated to his apartment, leading to a standoff with a SWAT team that lasted for over two hours. He eventually surrendered and was taken into custody. Law enforcement officials, including Police Chief Sonya Woodall, expressed their frustration over the seemingly random and senseless nature of the attack, suggesting that Cole may have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Elzie was charged with first-degree murder and held in the Pike County jail. During a preliminary hearing, an investigator testified that Elzie showed no remorse after the shooting and 'casually walked back to his apartment as if nothing was wrong.'
On March 26, 2025, a Pike County Circuit Court jury found Sedric D. Elzie guilty of first-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Two eyewitnesses testified during the trial that they saw Elzie shoot Cole. The judge sentenced Elzie to life in prison for the murder, with an additional ten years to be served consecutively for the firearm charge. District Attorney Brendon Adams described the crime as a 'classic example of senseless violence' and a case of someone 'taking another person's life in cold blood.'
