Frederick Hunt Jr., 26, was a man from Natchez, Mississippi, known to many as “Lil Fred,” whose life revolved around work, family, and a wide circle of friends. He had attended Chamberlain Hunt Military Academy and was working in a warehouse job for Retractable Technologies, building the kind of steady routine that promised a simple, stable future.
Online memorials describe him as family-oriented and outgoing, the sort of person who “never met a stranger,” someone who could turn casual encounters into warm connections and whose absence left a sharp, lingering ache in his community. After his death, arrangements were made for services at Pilgrim Baptist Church in Natchez, followed by burial at Greenleaf Baptist Church Cemetery in Harrison, Mississippi, under the care of Robert D. Mackel & Sons Funeral Home, marking a solemn farewell for a young man whose story ended far too quickly.
On a quiet Sunday afternoon in early 2020, that ordinary life was shattered. Shortly before 3 p.m. on Sunday, February 9, 2020, shots rang out on Lamar Street in Natchez. Police later said that Hunt was shot to death there at about 2 p.m., in what authorities believed to be a drive-by attack. Adams County Coroner James Lee reported that he had been struck at least twice, with a fatal wound to his chest, and that his body was sent to Jackson for an autopsy, a routine but painful necessity for a family already reeling from sudden loss. The scene on Lamar Street quickly filled with investigators and officers documenting evidence, the ordinary neighborhood street transformed into a crime scene marked by shell casings, barriers, and quiet, stunned onlookers.
In the hours and days that followed, law enforcement moved quickly but cautiously. The Adams County Sheriff’s Office Special Response Team joined Natchez police in searching for clues, and investigators were able to locate a vehicle they believed had been used in the drive-by shooting. Natchez Police Chief Walter Armstrong explained that the vehicle had been recovered and was being processed for evidence, and that a team of investigators was “running down all leads,” but also made clear that, at that early stage, no one had been taken into custody. The coroner spoke publicly about how deeply the killing affected him, and Armstrong repeatedly urged anyone with information to contact the police or Crime Stoppers, emphasizing that tips from the community could be crucial to understanding who had opened fire on Lamar Street and why.
As time passed, the lack of answers became its own kind of wound. Nearly two years after the shooting, local coverage still described the case as unsolved, with no suspect publicly identified and no arrest announced. In December 2021, Natchez Police Chief Joseph Daughtry said that a reward of up to $10,000 was being offered for information leading to an arrest in the killing, with $5,000 approved by the board of Southwest Mississippi Crime Stoppers and additional funds contributed by Hunt’s family. The size of the reward, and the fact that it was being publicized so long after the shooting, underscored how few solid leads investigators had and how desperately both authorities and loved ones were still seeking a breakthrough that might finally point to whoever was in the vehicle that day on Lamar Street.
Online, where grief often leaves a long digital trail, Hunt’s name lives on in memorial pages and tributes. On the National Gun Violence Memorial, his profile notes that he was lost to gun violence in Natchez, and dozens of virtual candles have been lit in his memory, accompanied by brief comments describing him as loving, outgoing, and deeply missed by those who knew him. Friends and family members use these spaces to affirm the person he was before the gunfire: a hard worker, a devoted relative, someone whose personality drew people in. Yet alongside the affection, there is a persistent sense of unfinished business. Public reporting through at least late 2021 shows no record of suspects being named, arrests made, or charges filed in connection with his killing, leaving his family and community still waiting for the day when someone is finally held accountable for the drive-by shooting that ended his life.
