On the evening of March 13, 2021, gunfire rang out on 11th Street near Prentiss Avenue in Yazoo City, Mississippi. Thirteen-year-old DMontae Lee was found lying in the street beside his bicycle with multiple gunshot wounds. The shooting happened just after 7:30 p.m.

Twenty-year-old James Banks was arrested and charged with first-degree murder amid suggestions the two had been involved in a dispute that escalated. Banks was released on $75,000 bond before DMontae’s funeral, a decision criticized by the then-police chief, who described the killing as an execution. At trial a Yazoo County jury acquitted Banks of first-degree murder, a verdict that left DMontae’s mother and others in the community distraught.

DMontae’s family had described him as coping with depression and behavioral issues; beyond the court verdict, the loss of a 13-year-old remains the central, unresolved tragedy. Does anyone have information about that night or knew DMontae and can help fill in what happened?