On the night of December 28, 2020, a confrontation in a Byhalia, Mississippi, apartment left 27-year-old Lazarus Lawson dead. Around 1:30 a.m., Miles LaCameron Cunningham allegedly forced entry into the apartment where he found his sometime girlfriend with Lawson. An altercation quickly escalated and several gunshots were fired; Lawson was struck in the back. He was found agitated at the scene, airlifted to the Regional Medical Center in Memphis, and later died. An autopsy reported multiple abrasions and a fatal gunshot wound that injured his liver, kidney, and lung.

Police identified 27-year-old Miles LaCameron Cunningham as the suspect, arrested him the same evening in Olive Branch, and a Marshall County grand jury indicted him for first-degree murder. At trial Cunningham asserted self-defense and denied intent to kill; the jury returned a verdict of guilty of first-degree murder and imposed a life sentence. An appeal arguing insufficient evidence and that the killing was manslaughter in the heat of passion was denied on review.

If anyone knew Lazarus, his movements that night, or witnessed the confrontation in the apartment, please share what was seen or heard.