In the late summer of 2011, the community of Rankin County, Mississippi, was shaken by the tragic death of 36-year-old Leslie Olivia Sheppard. A beloved female resident, Leslie was known for her vibrant personality and leadership qualities. Her life was cut short on September 27, 2011, when she was brutally murdered during a daytime burglary at her parents' rural home near Brandon.
On that fateful day, Leslie was resting at her parents' house after a late work shift.
Her own car was gone, as her father had borrowed it, likely leading the intruders to believe the home was empty. Two men from Jackson, Walter Burton, 36, and Jermaine Tyler, 30, had driven to the area with the intent of burglarizing homes in what they perceived as a less conspicuous rural setting. When they broke into the Sheppard residence, they were surprised to find Leslie inside. In a calculated act of violence to eliminate the only witness to their crime, Leslie was forced to the floor, a blanket or shawl was placed over her head, and she was shot execution-style in the back of the head. Her father discovered her body when he returned home from work.
The Rankin County Sheriff's Department immediately launched an intensive investigation. A significant break in the case came from a previous, unrelated burglary in the area where a cellphone had been stolen. That stolen phone was used to call Leslie’s phone, which was missing from the crime scene along with a television and an air compressor. A fingerprint left at the scene of that earlier burglary led investigators to a man who, in turn, implicated Burton and Tyler in Leslie's murder. Authorities set up a police trap, and the two suspects were apprehended when they drove up to the arranged meeting. The suspected murder weapon, a 9mm pistol, was recovered from the vehicle Tyler was in at the time of his arrest.
During the subsequent investigation, both men's stories began to unravel. Initially, Tyler blamed Burton for the shooting. However, he later confessed to being the one who pulled the trigger, stating that the act weighed heavily on his heart. Burton first denied being at the scene but later admitted to his presence while denying participation in the murder itself. Both men were charged with capital murder. To avoid the possibility of facing the death penalty, and with the consent of Leslie Sheppard’s family, both Walter Burton and Jermaine Tyler pleaded guilty. In separate court proceedings in 2012, they were both sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Jermaine Tyler, one of the men responsible for this senseless tragedy, was later found dead in his prison cell in January 2020.
