On the early morning of July 21, 2019, the quiet of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, was broken by a disturbance that drew law enforcement to the 400 block of Martin Luther King Avenue. Responding to the call around 3:40 a.m., officers discovered the lifeless body of a young woman lying in a vacant lot. The victim was identified as Shayna Catherine Cline, a 19-year-old White female who had suffered a fatal gunshot wound.
Her death marked a tragic moment for the local community and was part of a larger wave of violence that swept through the state during that particular weekend.
The investigation into the shooting moved rapidly as police secured the crime scene and began their inquiries. Authorities quickly zeroed in on a suspect located just across the street in the 100 block of Ruby Avenue. There, they apprehended 31-year-old Billy Lester, who was identified as Cline’s boyfriend. Social media updates from the victim prior to her death had indicated that the two were in a relationship. Lester was taken into custody without further incident as detectives worked to piece together the events that led to the fatal shooting in the vacant lot.
Following his arrest, Billy Lester was charged with first-degree murder in connection with Cline's death. He was booked into the Forrest County Jail, where his bond was set at $800,000. The case was classified by officials as a domestic homicide, highlighting the personal nature of the violence. While the legal process commenced with these serious charges, the incident stood out as one of several fatal shootings involving female victims in Mississippi over a extraordinarily violent 24-hour period, drawing attention to the broader issues of gun violence and domestic abuse in the region.
