In the early evening of May 13, 2017, the community at the Reserve Apartments in Gulfport, Mississippi, was shattered by the sound of gunfire. When police arrived at the scene on Three Rivers Road around 7:21 p.m., they discovered a grim tableau. Inside one of the apartments, they found the body of 40-year-old Fredrick Robinson of Biloxi, who had been fatally shot.
A second victim, 45-year-old Terry Singleton, was found deceased in the parking lot inside a pickup truck, also from gunshot wounds. The ensuing investigation painted a picture of a drug deal that had taken a violent and deadly turn.
Investigators quickly identified Torre Mandrell Clark, then 35 years old, as the primary suspect in the double homicide. The narrative that emerged from court testimony was that Robinson had gone into an apartment to conduct a drug deal with Clark. An argument erupted, leading to Robinson being shot. Prosecutors alleged that Clark, knowing Singleton was waiting outside in the truck and was a potential witness, then went outside and shot him as well. The violence of the act was further underscored by the fact that Singleton's truck had crashed into a resident's car, which in turn struck an apartment building. A manhunt for Clark ensued, and he was apprehended by U.S. Marshals on May 19, 2017, at a hotel in Meridian after fleeing the Gulfport area and leaving his vehicle in storage in Slidell.
Torre Mandrell Clark was subsequently charged with two counts of first-degree murder. His trial brought forth a complex and ultimately unconvincing case for the prosecution. While witnesses and phone records placed Clark at the apartment complex at the time of the murders, and his car was seen fleeing the scene, no one testified to actually seeing him commit the shootings. The prosecution presented ballistic and forensic evidence, but the defense countered with a stunning claim from Clark himself. He testified that two other men, Theodore and Charles Manning, were the actual perpetrators. According to Clark, Charles Manning had killed Robinson inside the apartment, and Theodore Manning had shot Singleton in the parking lot.
The trial took a significant turn as it was revealed that both Theodore and Charles Manning had accepted plea deals. Theodore Manning pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to first-degree murder, while Charles Manning pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice. This, coupled with the lack of direct eyewitness testimony against Clark, created reasonable doubt in the minds of the jurors. After a trial that detailed the tragic events of that May evening, the jury deliberated for approximately two and a half hours in October of 2019. Their verdict was not guilty on two counts of first-degree murder and the lesser charges of second-degree murder, leading to Torre Mandrell Clark's acquittal. Following the verdict, the deaths of Fredrick Robinson and Terry Singleton remain officially unresolved, leaving their families and the community with lingering questions and a sense of justice unfulfilled.
