On February 7, 2016, in Pass Christian, Mississippi, a volley of about 12 gunshots erupted shortly after the St. Paul Carnival Association’s Mardi Gras parade. The shooting occurred on Davis Avenue, a couple of blocks north of the parade route where roughly 50,000 people had gathered. Carlos Dewayne Bates, 29, of Gulfport, was one of two men killed; 43-year-old Isaiah Major III of Bay St. Louis was the other. Both were described as innocent bystanders struck by stray bullets and were found lying close together in the street.

The confrontation began when a group that included Malcolm Joseph Dedeaux, Jessie Lee Williams Jr., Jermaine Rashad Ratcliff, and Donald Dedeaux allegedly confronted Charles Johnson in a crowded intersection, and gunfire was exchanged between the parties. Johnson and three others were wounded. By November 2017 Malcolm Dedeaux had pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter and received 40 years, and Jessie Lee Williams Jr. had pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter and received 20 years.

Did anyone at the parade witness the confrontation on Davis Avenue or have information about the moments leading up to the shooting?