In the early evening hours of May 29, 2019, a burst of violence shattered the quiet of a Meridian, Mississippi neighborhood, leaving two men dead. Edward C. Carpenter, a 32-year-old male, was one of the victims in what police would later describe as a targeted attack. The incident unfolded around 7:30 p.m. at the intersection of 22nd Street and 44th Avenue, where law enforcement officers arrived to a grim scene.
Carpenter and another man, identified as 27-year-old Talimon Edwards of
Marion, were found with fatal gunshot wounds. One of the men was discovered inside a car, while the other was found just outside the vehicle. Investigators determined that both Carpenter and Edwards had been seated in the front of the car when they were shot from behind by an individual in the back seat. Authorities were quick to assure the public that the double homicide was not a random act of violence, but rather the result of an ongoing dispute.
The investigation into the deaths of Carpenter and Edwards led to the identification of two suspects. In the months that followed the shooting, law enforcement tracked down and apprehended Cedric Rogers and 20-year-old Jayvion Smith of Meridian. Rogers was captured in Kemper County on June 28, while U.S. Marshals arrested Smith in July of the same year.
