Lorenzo K. Halthon Jr. was 29 when his body was found in a ditch along Burns Road in the rural northern part of Columbus, Mississippi, on the morning of July 2, 2020. Deputies from the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Department suspected foul play and opened a homicide investigation.

Kalthon, born June 18, 1991, in Tampa, Florida, was a 2009 graduate of West Lowndes High School and a U.S. Army veteran. He left behind his wife, Shalondra Nicole Halthon, and three children.

Within two weeks investigators arrested 37-year-old Donta Terrell Kirby and charged him with murder. A Lowndes County grand jury later indicted Kirby on first-degree murder and two counts of possession of a weapon by a felon; the indictment indicated firearms were involved. In February 2022 a jury convicted Kirby of murder and the weapons charges and the court imposed life without parole plus two additional 10-year terms for the weapons counts.

If anyone has information about Lorenzo’s life in Columbus or the events leading up to July 2, 2020, please share what you know.