Man back in custody for 2012 killing

Published 12:05 am Saturday, May 2, 2015

NATCHEZ — After a more than two-year delay, an area man is back in Adams County custody and on track to be tried for a 2012 killing.

The delay was caused by an arrest in another jurisdiction for a significantly lesser charge.

Cedric DeWayne Ward, 36, 76 Providence Road, was booked into the Adams Coutny jail Thursday on a warrant for murder.

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An Adams County grand jury had indicted Ward in November 2012 for the 5 a.m., April 1, 2012, shooting death of Cleveland Ezell Wilson, 41.

He was set to go to trial in March 12, 2013, and was free on a $150,000 bond.

On March 7, 2013, however, Ward was arrested in Concordia Parish on a charge of possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and detained there, forcing the court to continue the matter.

“We just got him back,” District Attorney Ronnie Haper said. “We had a detainer on him with Louisiana, so once he was released, they contacted the Adams County Sheriff’s Office and they picked him up.”

The murder case will now be placed back on the active court docket, Harper said.

“We don’t have any way to compel (another jurisdiction) if the suspect has any pending charges in another state, but now that they’re done with him, he has come back to face the music,” Harper said.

Ward was convicted of attempted second-degree murder in Louisiana in 2000, and was convicted of aggravated assault in Adams County in 2001.