Mississippi teen pleads guilty in February murder
Lemetrius Hollins killed in Madison County
Updated: 11:37 AM CDT Jul 2, 2024
A 19-year-old has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in a February shooting.The investigation began Feb. 5 with a welfare check at a home on Haley Creek in Madison, where deputies found the body of Lemetrius Hollins. The suspect, Dawton Gage Whatley, of Walls, was in custody on unrelated charges in Washington County.Investigators traveled to Washington County, where they interviewed Whatley, and eventually, he was charged in Hollins’ death. “It appeared the two men knew each other because Hollins had acted as a guardian and mentor to Whatley in his teen years and Whatley had been living with Hollins prior to the murder,” prosecutors said in a news release. “The exact motive remains unclear, although Whatley did admit to shooting Hollins one time on Feb. 3.”Whatley pleaded guilty June 24 and will be sentenced June 16 in Madison County.
A 19-year-old has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in a February shooting.
The investigation began Feb. 5 with a welfare check at a home on Haley Creek in Madison, where deputies found the body of Lemetrius Hollins. The suspect, Dawton Gage Whatley, of Walls, was in custody on unrelated charges in Washington County.
Investigators traveled to Washington County, where they interviewed Whatley, and eventually, he was charged in Hollins’ death.
“It appeared the two men knew each other because Hollins had acted as a guardian and mentor to Whatley in his teen years and Whatley had been living with Hollins prior to the murder,” prosecutors said in a news release. “The exact motive remains unclear, although Whatley did admit to shooting Hollins one time on Feb. 3.”
Whatley pleaded guilty June 24 and will be sentenced June 16 in Madison County.
