Three men have been arrested and charged in Indianola’s most recent homicide. JaShawn Colton, 21, of Inverness was formally arrested on Saturday and charged with first-degree murder in the Dec. 13 death of 23-year-old Dontavious Boatman. Also arrested were Lamon Cooper, 30, of Inverness and 26-year-old Lorenzo Edwards of Indianola, each charged with being accessories after the fact.
Colton and Cooper made their initial appearance before Judge Kuykendall Murry on Monday and Colton’s bond was set at $100,000, and Cooper received a $25,000 bond. Edwards appeared before Murry on Sunday and his bond was set at $5,000. As of Tuesday, Edwards and Cooper had been released on bond, while Colton remains behind bars.
On Dec. 13 at approximately 7:54 p.m., officers were called to the 400 block of Forrest Street in reference to shots fired and found Boatman inside of a white Chevrolet Impala, unresponsive, with a gunshot wound to the left side of his head.
Investigator Standrick Hodges said MedStat was called at that time, but upon arrival they found no signs of life in Boatman and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Police found evidence that at least one bullet entered the driver’s side back window of the car, which is owned by Lexus James, who is believed to be the intended target.
Hodges said they received information that James and Colton had been involved in a verbal altercation, near J-Mack’s store on the corner of Curtis and Garrard, about an hour before the shots rang out. Later on, they received several calls informing them that Colton was the shooter.
After police also received information that Colton might be planning to leave town, they reached out to law enforcement officials in the adjacent counties and the men were spotted early Thursday morning at the Double Quick/McDonalds on U.S. 49 in Belzoni, and detained by Belzoni Police officers and Humphreys County Sheriff’s deputies.
They were brought back to Indianola and placed under an investigative hold. Officers also seized a .380 handgun, which they believe was used in the shooting. Colton allegedly made a statement to corroborate the accusations that he fired a gun. Hodges said he is awaiting results from the crime lab to confirm if it was indeed the same gun.
The investigation is ongoing and more arrests are possible, Hodges said and their preliminary hearing has been set for Jan. 9.
