Man charged in the Artesia triple murders investigation

LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – Bond was denied for the suspect in the triple homicide in Artesia.

20-year-old Clark Allen Jr. was charged with Capital Murder and Conspiracy to Commit a Felony.

Allen’s first court appearance was on Thursday in Lowndes County.

Allen, who is from Starkville, asked the judge if he could be transferred to the Oktibbeha County Jail.

He said it was for his own protection, since the three victims are from Lowndes County.

The judge told him no because by law you are housed in the county jail where the crime was committed.

Deputies have a suspect behind bars, but the investigation is far from over.

“There is a lot of work that still needs to be done. It’s like we were talking about last night, you know, we have evidence. We have physical evidence now, that points us in the direction of this individual and the charges that we filed, but now the work begins,” says Major Greg Wright.

“We do believe that drugs are a factor in this case. We have not established a motive at this time, but I do want to emphasize that we do believe that it does play a factor in this.”

While investigators say drugs may have been involved, they are not confirming reports of gambling at the Mobile Drive home.

“It is information that’s been given to us. We are currently investigating that however, I wouldn’t want to comment exactly on what the going on’s are in that particular resident, but we are investigating any and all pieces of information were given.”

Wright says Allen was a guest at the house the same day it turned into a crime scene and that Allen is the person of interest investigators took into custody Tuesday.

Information deputies received when they got to the scene led them to Allen.

“A physical description, clothing and things of that nature. Plus, there were just some other witness statements that we were able to get in the area, once deputies have fanned it out and some sightings. We had sightings by a couple of individuals and we just kind of went to that area where this was and he was found.”

Wright emphasized that the investigation will take time.

He appreciates the residents’ patience.

“We want to do everything we can for the people of Artesia, just to let them know, you know, hey, we’re looking into this. We’re wanting to, you know, get any and all information. We still want to look into it, but we owe it to the citizens of Artesia to find out exactly what happened.”