In the quiet community of Foxworth, Mississippi, the life of 30-year-old Tamaneka Murree Alexander was cut short on the night of Friday, October 6, 2017. Deputies from the Marion County Sheriff's Department were dispatched to a residence on Water Valley Road around 11 p.m. following a report of a shooting. Upon their arrival, they discovered a tragic scene stemming from what appeared to be a domestic dispute.
Inside the home, they found Alexander unresponsive with a gunshot wound.
Outside the residence, her 48-year-old boyfriend, Handy Anthony Willis Jr., was also found with what appeared to be a gunshot wound. Both were immediately transported to Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg for medical attention. Alexander was airlifted but succumbed to her injuries and passed away at the hospital. Willis was reported to be in stable condition following the incident.
The investigation into the shooting quickly pointed to Willis as the suspect. After speaking with witnesses, the Marion County Sheriff's Department charged him with murder on the following Monday. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation's Crime Scene Unit was called in to assist with the ongoing probe into the events that led to the fatal shooting. While the specifics of the altercation were not publicly released, authorities confirmed that both Alexander and Willis had each been shot once. In the days following the incident, Willis remained hospitalized under the murder charge as the legal process began to unfold.
