Greenwood, MS-On August 20, 2018, Leflore County Senior Circuit Judge Ashley Hines accepted the guilty plea of Waltdrakus Hunter, 39 yoa. Hunter was indicted by the January 2018 grand jury for the charges of attempted capital murder and armed robbery as a violent habitual offender.
Hunter had previously been convicted in 2002 of armed robbery and manslaughter. In 2017, Hunter was released from incarceration in the Mississippi Department of Corrections and was on earned release supervision.
This case stemmed from officers with the Greenwood Police Department quickly responding to a 911 call from the store clerk at the Scott Service Station on October 18, 2017. When they made it to the scene they found the store clerk shot in the side and lying face down inside the store bleeding from the gunshot wound. Patrol units immediately began searching for the suspect. Moments later they were able to locate Hunter who fled the scene after shooting Dekerus Williams and robbing the cash register at the Scott Station. Officers also found the gun that Hunter attempted to dispose as he was driving around the overpass at the intersection of Highway 82 and Highway 49. Greenwood Police Department officers were also able to locate and recover the $523 that Hunter had stolen from the Scott Service Station during the robbery.
After reviewing the case file and the minimum and maximum penalties for each charge, Judge Hines sentenced Waltdrakus Hunter to a term of thirty-five (35) years in the Mississippi Department of Corrections for the charge of attempted capital murder and a term of thirty-five (35) years in the Mississippi Department of Corrections for the charge of armed robbery both as a Habitual Offender. The two thirty-five (35) year sentences will run consecutively, meaning Hunter will serve seventy (70) years in the Department of Corrections without any opportunity for early release nor parole.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Tim Jones and Amanda Sturniolo. Jones adds that, “the video of this robbery and shooting was one of the most heinous that he had ever scene. All the thanks goes to the diligent officers of the Greenwood Police Department for their efforts in capturing this violent defendant and their assistance in ensuring that justice was served for Mr. Williams and his family.”
Contact: W. Dewayne Richardson District Attorney, Fourth Circuit Court District | 662-378-2105