LaRita Yvonne Renee Dewberry, a 26-year-old Black woman from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, was fatally shot on the night of July 9, 2016, at about 10:10 p.m. She was inside her sport utility vehicle parked outside an apartment complex on West Fourth Street when the shooting occurred. Friends reported she had told them she planned to end her relationship with her boyfriend.

Authorities identified her boyfriend, 27-year-old Taiwan Jermaine Blakely, as the person responsible. Blakely turned himself in the day after the shooting. Investigators found a .45-caliber Ruger in Dewberry’s lap, and forensic testing showed gunshot residue on Blakely’s hand. He was initially charged with first-degree murder and held in the Forrest County Jail on a $1 million bond; later court proceedings reduced the charge to second-degree murder, with a 15-year sentence and five years of post-release supervision, while 10 years were suspended on condition of no further offenses. During the proceedings, LaRita’s mother, Chandra Dewberry, publicly forgave Blakely.