Houston man sentenced in 2020 fatal shooting of high school senior
May 27—TUPELO — A Houston man will spend the next 40 years behind bars for shooting and killing a Tupelo High School senior, just two days before he was to graduate in May 2020.
According to testimony in Lee County Circuit Court Friday, Jacquez Dominique Calvert went to his car after a fight, pulled out an AR-15 and fired multiple rounds at Dreshawn Williams, 18, as he walked away. One of the bullets struck the high senior in the back of the head and he fell dead in the middle of the North Broadway Street around 8:45 p.m. May 5, 2020.
Calvert, who turned 22 in March, was arrested the same night and initially charged with first degree murder. As part of an agreement with the District Attorney's Office, on May 19 Calvert pleaded guilty to the reduced charge of second degree murder. Because Calvert pleaded in front of a judge instead of being convicted by a jury, the possible sentence dropped from life to 20-40 years in prison.
During the sentencing hearing held more than a week after the plea, Senior Circuit Court Judge Paul Funderburk allowed both sides to present witnesses.
Colby Stegall was a good friend to Williams and was standing right next to him when he was shot. Stegall said William was visiting him at his house in the 400 block of North Broadway Street.
"We were just chilling and smoking. He wanted to see a girl a few houses down so I went with him," Stegall said. "Everything was fine at first. Then a few minutes later, some guys showed up and things went south."
As Calvert and others got out and began threatening Williams, Stegall ran to get help. When he found no one, he went back to help his friend. When he returned, his friend was already walking away from Calvert in the middle of the street. Stegall ran up, put his arm around his friend's shoulder to make sure he was alright.
"I asked him if they had jumped him. Right after he said, 'Yeah,' the shots started," Stegall said. "It sounded like a lot (of shots). Dre fell right there."
Authorities said more than a half-dozen rounds were fired.
Calvert attempted to deflect responsibility when he spoke before the court.
"I am sorry for what happened. Never that night did I intend to take a life," Calvert said. "I thought I was protecting myself and the ones I was out with. One witness thought they saw someone with a gun with Dre."
When questioned on the witness stand by Assistant District Attorney David Daniels, Stegall testified that neither he nor Williams were armed that night.
Calvert told the judge he traveled to Tupelo that night to visit a cousin and their child. He said he purchased the AR-15 rifle because of perceived danger in the Mississippi Delta where he was attending college.
When Judge Funderburk asked him directly why he had the fully-loaded automatic weapon in his car that night in a Tupelo neighborhood, Calvert had no response.
Michael Smith, who is Calvert's uncle, said his nephew was raised in the church, went to school and got good grades, and later got a job to support his daughter.
"In no way do we condone what he did. We pray for the family, both families," Smith said. "He just made a bad decision."
But Williams' aunt thought the actions were more than just a bad decision.
"You took our baby's life over anger. You chose to do something cowardly," Nakeisha Williams said. "He was walking away from the fight you had. You were a coward. You took a gun and shot as he walked away."
She said the shooting "definitely devastated" the family and several member still have problems sleeping. She said the family definitely did not want Calvert to receive a lenient sentence.
"You have already been shown leniency, probably more than you deserve, when the charge was reduced from first degree to second," said Judge Funderburk. "Based on what I heard here today, it is the opinion of the court that you should serve a term of 40 years in prison."
Calvert was booked into the Lee County Jail last week following his plea. He will remain there until the Mississippi Department of Corrections transports him to Rankin County. He will enter the state prison system there before being assigned a permanent location.
