A body in the street

The first 911 call came in at 12:51 a.m.: shots fired in the area of Adams and Fayette. Within minutes, several more callers said they heard shots fired and that there was a body in the street.

First responders at the scene on Fayette. There was little they could do to save him.

The Vicksburg Daily News was on scene just after the first police car arrived and saw a body laying in the street farther up Fayette near Locust. There was a police car near it. An officer walked toward us not knowing who we were. As is our procedure in these cases, we asked the officer where we should stand to do our report. We want to show crime scenes without showing too much and always approach them as if it was our brother, sister or other family member affected.

A second police car pulled up and blocked off Fayette from the east. By 1:02 a.m. there were several police cars and an ambulance on the scene, and a fire truck was pulling up.

The body of Demetric Clark lay in the street as police wait for the van to transport him to the crime lab.

The first responders in the ambulance didn’t have much to do.

While Dematric Clark, “Black” to his friends, was breathing when the first officer arrived, he was no longer breathing when EMTs arrived a couple of minutes later. Though several people heard numerous shots fired, a single gunshot to the head had ended his life.

After a few minutes, a white sheet was brought out to cover his body. Within 30 minutes of being shot and falling to the street, Black once again lay alone on the brick street.

9 Police cars were on scene along with an ambulance and a firetruck. The scene was quickly secured so any available evidence could be recovered.

Dematric Clark was a father. He worked at McDonald’s to support his family and was liked by his large array of friends. Dozens of those friends and family showed up on the scene.

By 2 a.m., just over an hour after Black had taken his last breath, a crowd of some 40 family and friends were taking in the scene and comforting one another. The wails and shouts of shock from family members had subsided by this point. As another family member pulled up, her cries were softened by the hugs and tears of those who surrounded her.

Family members and friends are there to take in the scene.

Doug Huskey, the Warren County coroner, pulled up to direct the process of removing Black’s body from the crime scene. Notes were made, a discussion or two were had, and then the van that removes bodies from a crime scene pulled up as the ambulance quietly left.

The next 20 or so minutes were filled with officers talking to people, as the coroner prepared the body for transport and onlookers talked about another murder that occurred in this same location. In 2017, Corey Maxey Jr., 22, died from a gunshot wound to head just a few feet from where Demetric Clark died early Saturday morning.

A map of the location of the crime.

The investigators and officers with the Vicksburg Police Department secured the area surrounding the crime within minutes of arriving. No one, other than those duly authorized, was allowed near it.

Officers balanced the job of securing the scene with keeping onlookers at a respectable distance, and understanding the anger and aggressiveness of family and friends as they arrived. Several times the police had to caution people that they couldn’t approach the body.

The transport van awaits the body of Dematric Clark as the stretcher is pulled into place.

Once Dematric Clark’s body was loaded into the transport van, it headed to the crime lab in Jackson where all the forensic information will be gathered.

As the coroner left the area where Black lay, he stopped for a couple of seconds to speak with the press but he soon politely excused himself and headed over to the family. He spent the rest of his time comforting them and answering the questions he could. There was a much greater sense of calm in the area after Doug Huskey spoke with the family and friends of Dematric Clark.

Dematric Clark, 36.

The Vicksburg Police Department needs your help to find the killer or killers of Dematric Clark. If you have information that may help find those responsible for his death, please call Crime Stoppers at 601-355-TIPS (8477) or just click here.