Two Plead Guilty in Leflore County Murder and Armed Robbery

Greenwood, MS – On April 1, 2019, both Quandarius Williams and Renae Marie Canada pled guilty to the June 7, 2017 shooting death and armed robbery of Desmond Baker.
After three local men found Baker on a Leflore County road with a gunshot wound to his head, investigators with the Leflore County Sheriff’s Department worked tirelessly to discover who was responsible for Baker’s senseless death. They tracked Williams to Louisiana where he had fled after the shooting and robbery.

Williams and Canada admitted to their part in the plan to rob Baker. Williams shot Baker in the process of that robbery. Canada expressed remorse for her actions and asked the Baker family for forgiveness after the Court accepted her plea. Baker’s father Clarence Baker wrote a letter to the Court and the defendants, which Assistant District Attorney Tim Jones read when each defendant pled. Baker’s fiancé also spoke before Williams was sentenced. They both expressed their sadness and anger over being robbed of the life of their son and fiancé.

In Mississippi, second degree murder carries a minimum penalty of twenty (20) years in the Mississippi Department of Corrections and a maximum penalty of forty (40) years. The minimum penalty for armed robbery is three (3) years in the Mississippi Department of Corrections and the maximum penalty is a term of years less than a life sentence in the Mississippi Department of Corrections.

Leflore County Circuit Court Judge Richard Smith sentenced Williams and Canada to District Attorney’s recommendation of: forty (40) years on the second degree murder, thirty-five (35) years to serve in the Mississippi Department of Corrections, five (5) years of post release supervision; and forty (40) years on the armed robbery, thirty-five (35) years to serve in the Mississippi Department of Corrections, five (5) years of post release supervision. The two sentences are to run at the same time.

Leflore County Assistant District Attorney Timothy Jones who prosecuted the case for the District Attorney’s Office thanked the Leflore County Sheriff’s Department for working tirelessly and putting together a case that will hopefully bring some sense of closure for the Bakers. He added that, “unfortunately nothing we do can bring Desmond back, but hopefully these convictions and sentences will lead to healing for his family.”

Contact: W. Dewayne Richardson District Attorney, Fourth Circuit Court District | 662-378-2105

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The mission of the District Attorney’s Office for the Fourth Circuit Court, under the direction of
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Citizen's Involvement in the criminal justice system typically begins with them being a victim, witness, or defendant of a crime. Arrests are made generally by a judge-issued warrant or by a police officer observing a crime in process. Law enforcement may also arrest someone if it has probable cause to believe the person committed a criminal offense. When individuals are arrested they are routinely advised of their Miranda Rights upon arrest, advising them that they have the right to remain silent and that anything they say will be used against them in court. On being questioned, defendants have the right to have their attorney present or to have one appointed if they are indigent.

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