Second charged in shooting

Published 12:28 am Thursday, November 19, 2015

NATCHEZ — A second man has been charged in connection with a Sunday night shooting that killed a man who was reportedly leaving the scene of an altercation.

Latoris Vondalu Cooley, 38, of Natchez, was booked into the Adams County Jail Tuesday afternoon on a charge of accessory after the fact to murder. He was detained on a $200,000 bond.

Cooley joins behind bars Lavander Lashon Williams, 36, who was charged early Monday morning with second-degree murder, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and a parole violation in the death of Charles Knight, 56.

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Officials with the Adams County Sheriff’s Office said witnesses told investigators Knight and Williams had apparently been involved in a disagreement inside the M&M Deli at approximately 11:50 p.m. Sunday.

The argument had spilled outside, where the two men had reportedly become involved in a physical altercation.

Knight was reportedly trying to leave the scene in his vehicle when Williams allegedly retrieved a weapon from his vehicle and fired after Knight, whose vehicle left the business’s parking lot, crossed the roadway and came to a stop in a ditch behind a nearby church.

He was later pronounced dead at the scene. Coroner James Lee said Monday Knight had received multiple gunshot wounds to the back.

Williams later left the scene, and deputies located him at Merit Health Natchez, where he was reportedly seeking treatment for alleged assault wounds.

He was booked into the county jail after receiving treatment, and is currently detained on an $800,000 bond.

An ACSO spokesperson said Wednesday Cooley was charged as an accessory after the fact to murder for allegedly driving Knight to and from the scene of the shooting.