In the fall of 2020, the life of 31-year-old Wade Carter Jr., a male resident of Vicksburg, Mississippi, was tragically cut short. On the evening of October 6th, Carter was in the parking lot of LD's Bar and Lounge when he was shot twice in the abdomen. Two other individuals were also wounded in the incident. Carter was rushed to a local hospital for treatment, but he ultimately succumbed to his injuries three days later, on October 9, 2020. His death marked the city's eighth homicide of the year.
The Vicksburg Police Department quickly identified a suspect in the fatal shooting: 27-year-old James Earl Winters, also of Vicksburg. However, Winters managed to evade capture and went on the run. The search for him lasted for several months, with the U.S. Marshals joining the effort in early November of 2020. The manhunt finally came to an end on January 27, 2021, when officers with the Vicksburg Police Department and deputies from the Warren County Sheriff's Office executed a warrant at a city residence and took Winters into custody without incident.
Following his arrest, James Earl Winters faced the judicial process for his role in the death of Wade Carter Jr. After legal proceedings in the Warren County Circuit Court, a conclusion to the case was reached in the summer of 2023. On a Friday in late June, just over two and a half years after the shooting, James Earl Winters was sentenced for the murder of Wade Carter. The Honorable Judge James Chaney presided over the sentencing, bringing a formal close to a case that had begun with a violent encounter in a parking lot and ended with a conviction for the taking of a life.
