GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) - A man suspected in a Mississippi double homicide has been cleared of the charges.
A Harrison County jury found Torre Mandrell Clark not guilty Monday of two first-degree murder charges and of the lesser charges of second-degree murder, WLOX-TV reported.
Officers arrested Clark in 2017 after suspecting him of the May 13 killing Terry Singleton and Fredrick Robinson. Both men were found dead from gunshot wounds at the Reserve Apartments. District Attorney Joel Smith says Gulfport Police testified Clark and two co-defendants, Theodore Manning and Charles Manning, were at the complex to conduct a drug deal.
Clark testified that Charles Manning killed Robinson in an apartment and Theodore Manning killed Singleton in a parking lot. He admitted being at the scene but said he didn’t kill either victim.
Smith said other witnesses also testified regarding Clark’s presence at the apartment complex before the murders and his car fleeing the scene. But none of the witnesses actually saw the shootings or him shooting the victims.
The jury also heard expert testimony including a ballistics expert and a forensic pathologist, who testified regarding the cause of death of the victims and location of the gunshot wounds.
The jury deliberated for about 2½ hours before returning the verdicts.
“The state’s position was he (Clark) was there for both murders, and therefore he was responsible for the murders. We argued that the mere fact he was there for both murders doesn’t mean he committed the crime, and the jury agreed and found Mr. Clark not guilty,” said Philip Whitman, Clark’s attorney.
Theodore Manning was initially charged with first-degree murder but he struck a plea deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to first-degree murder. Charles Manning pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice.
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Information from: WLOX-TV, http://www.wlox.com
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