In the early morning hours of a late September day in Vicksburg, Mississippi, the life of 36-year-old Dematric Lamar Clark was tragically cut short. On Saturday, September 21, 2019, officers from the Vicksburg Police Department responded to reports of a shooting at the New Main Apartments on Locust Street. Upon their arrival shortly after 1 a.m., they discovered Clark inside a vehicle, suffering from a single gunshot wound to his chest. Despite the immediate response from emergency personnel, Clark succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene by the Warren County coroner.
The initial investigation into the death of the male victim pointed to a dispute that had escalated to fatal violence. Law enforcement officials quickly began to piece together the events that led to the shooting. Their efforts led to the identification of two suspects, brothers Cedric Williams and Arzeri Williams. Within a short period, both men were taken into custody in connection with the death of Dematric Lamar Clark, signaling a swift response from the Vicksburg Police Department in a case that had shaken the local community.
Following their arrests, Cedric Williams, 27 at the time, and Arzeri Williams, then 28, faced the judicial process. The brothers were formally charged with the murder of Dematric Lamar Clark. During their initial court appearance in Vicksburg Municipal Court, Judge Allen Derivaux set their bonds at $1 million each. The case was then bound over to the Warren County grand jury, which later returned indictments against both Cedric and Arzeri Williams for first-degree murder, ensuring that the two men would stand trial for their alleged roles in the fatal shooting.
In the subsequent legal proceedings, the case against the Williams brothers moved through the court system. Ultimately, Cedric Williams pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter. For his involvement in the death of Dematric Clark, he was sentenced to serve 20 years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. The resolution of the charges against his brother, Arzeri Williams, included a conviction for aggravated assault, for which he received a 10-year suspended sentence, bringing a legal conclusion to a case that began with a fatal gunshot in the early morning hours.
