In the winter of 2021, the life of 29-year-old Nakieta Lashawn McCarty was tragically cut short in a violent encounter in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. On the morning of December 16th, an altercation on Apachie Street ended in a double homicide, claiming the lives of McCarty and 46-year-old Joseph Lee Thames Jr. The two were shot and killed, leaving the community in shock and prompting an investigation by local law enforcement.
The Hattiesburg Police Department began seeking tips from the public to piece together the events that led to the fatal shooting. Their investigation, with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force, soon focused on a primary suspect. Less than a month after the incident, on January 6, 2022, authorities located and arrested Frederick Tyrese Allen in connection with the killings. At the time of his arrest for the murders, Allen was already facing outstanding charges for aggravated assault and criminal street gang activity.
Following his arrest, Allen was booked into the Forrest County Correctional Facility. A grand jury indicted him on two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of McCarty and Thames. In a turn of events in July 2023, Allen chose to plead guilty to the lesser charges of two counts of second-degree murder. On September 21, 2023, a Forrest County Circuit Court judge sentenced Frederick Tyrese Allen to serve 60 years in prison for his role in the double homicide. The sentence stipulates that he will serve the time day-for-day, making him ineligible for parole until he is 80 years old.
