Investigators say Mississippi man shot two men, multiple times and dumped bodies in road

Published 3:16 pm Tuesday, December 3, 2019

A north Mississippi man is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of two men.

Tate County Sheriff Brad Lance tells local news outlets that 19-year-old Gerdarius Newson of Coldwater is charged in the killings of Steven Alex Smith and Manuel Olivas. Investigators didn’t cite a motive for the killings.

The bodies of the two men were found before dawn in the middle of a rural road on Nov. 24 by a passing motorist. Smith and Olivas, both 20, had been shot multiple times. It’s unclear if they were shot there or somewhere else. Neighbors said they didn’t hear anything.

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It’s unclear whether Newson has a lawyer representing him or has seen a judge.