2 arrested for Capital Murder after weekend deadly shooting

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI)- Two people are facing Capital Murder Charges after a weekend homicide in Columbus.

The arrest comes just three days after a man was found shot in the back the head at his South side Apartment.

Investigators say it appears this was a robbery that resulted in the shooting death of Markcus Pate, 34. That’s the reason behind the Capital Murder charge.

Columbus Police releasing new details after Saturday’s deadly shooting. Police Chief Fred Shelton says the suspects, Malcolm Hill, 25, and Victoria Slayton, 23, used to be friends with Markcus Pate.

While a motive is still not being released, investigators say one thing was involved.

“We can say that there were some drugs involved,” said Columbus Police Chief Fred Shelton.

Police say the door of Pate’s apartment in the 300 Block of 11th Street South was locked. There was no evidence of someone forcing their way inside.

“The door wasn’t kicked in, there were no windows broken, so it appeared that someone let them in left and locked the door behind them,” said Chief Shelton.

District Attorney Scott Colom says the suspects conspired to commit a robbery, ending in the death of Mr. Pate.

Under Mississippi Law that constitutes Capital Murder.

“It comes with the potential of the highest punishment which is the death penalty,” said District Attorney Scott Colom.

Both Colom and Chief Shelton credit CPD’s investigation division and others for the quick and efficient work.

With such a big case, Chief Shelton says they’re making sure the right folks are behind bars.

“This is something where someone can either spend the rest of their life in prison or get the death penalty. And as the district attorney said, people are presumed innocent until proven guilty, and we want to make sure, this is very important, we want to make sure we’ve got it right and we got it right in the beginning,” said Chief Shelton.

Hill and Slayton are expected to make their initial court appearance Wednesday.

 

Categories: Crime, Featured

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