Willie James Barden was 55 and a Memphis firefighter when he was shot dead at his Olive Branch, Mississippi home on November 12, 2019. A 911 call from his stepson, Joshua Price, said Price’s mother, Felicia Barden, had confessed to shooting her husband. Paramedics found Willie unresponsive in the master bedroom and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators say surveillance footage above the bedroom door showed Felicia leaving to retrieve a firearm from the garage and returning before the shooting. Gunshot residue was reportedly found on both victims’ hands. The day before the shooting Willie had messaged Felicia that he wanted a divorce; Felicia had drafted a message resembling a suicide note. Joshua Price told investigators his mother asked him to dispose of the digital video recorder that contained the footage, but police recovered the DVR and the handgun.

Felicia Barden was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, convicted by a jury in June 2021 and sentenced to life in prison, with the conviction and sentence later affirmed on appeal. Does anyone have information about Willie’s life in Olive Branch or the family’s situation leading up to November 12, 2019?