Cordell DeShaun Lewis, 27, was fatally shot just after 12:20 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day, November 23, 2017, outside the Trotter Convention Center in Columbus, Mississippi. He was taken to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle, where he died. His killing was the city’s first homicide that year.

The party at the city-owned convention center had four Columbus police officers and two security guards on site; security had reportedly broken up three separate altercations inside the event before the shooting. It is not clear whether Lewis was involved in those incidents. One of the officers at the scene attempted to provide aid to Lewis after the shooting.

On the morning of December 15, 2017, authorities arrested 25-year-old Undra Williams Jr. at his residence and charged him with first-degree murder; a judge denied bond at the initial court appearance. Investigators continued to seek information from the public, believing there were numerous witnesses to the shooting.

If anyone attended that event or has information about what happened outside the convention center that night, please come forward.