Will Roger Gordon, a 56-year-old male Army veteran, was in his Coldwater, Mississippi, home on the night of May 17, 2016, when his life was tragically cut short. The quiet of the evening was shattered when he was shot and killed, an event that would soon draw a multi-agency investigation into the quiet, peaceful town. In the days that followed, a picture of what authorities believed to be a robbery gone wrong began to emerge, leaving a community in shock and a family mourning the loss of a man they remembered as a 'great guy' who was always ready with a joke.
The investigation, a collaborative effort between the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, Coldwater Police, the Tate County Sheriff's Department, and Senatobia Police, quickly led to a vehicle of interest—a gray Nissan Altima found abandoned off the road in the 800 block of Parkway. This discovery proved to be a crucial break in the case, and within a week, four young men were in custody. Antarious De'vontee Boyd, Deorio Rodgers, Trevor Devonte Moore, and Terrence Rodrick Bledsoe, all in their early 20s, were arrested and subsequently charged with the murder of Will Roger Gordon.
Authorities revealed that the suspects were known to the victim and that each had a prior criminal history. The District Attorney, John Champion, described the crime as a 'classic example of youth gone wrong,' suggesting that the motive behind the fatal shooting was robbery. The four suspects were held in separate jails in the area, with Antarious De'vontee Boyd's bond being set at a substantial one million dollars. The other three men were scheduled for their initial court appearances shortly after their arrests, marking the beginning of the legal proceedings intended to bring justice for the death of Will Roger Gordon. His sister, Victoria Gordon, while grieving the loss of her baby brother, expressed a sentiment of sorrow for all the families involved, a testament to the far-reaching impact of the violent act.
