According to a press release issued by the Panola County Sheriff’s Department, Demeterius Smith of Lambert has been arrested and charged with the murder of Carnesha R. Nelson who would have been 20 Saturday when the body was discovered.

Nelson was from Moss Point.

Whitten said he knew little as to what relationship Smith and Nelson had.

"All we know is that at some time she lived in Crosby Hall on campus where Smith was a desk monitor," he said.

Smith remains in custody at the Panola County Jail. His bond has been set at $250,000.

Nelson’s body was discovered by fishermen who were preparing for the weekend’s St. Jude Bass classic in the Engineer’s Point area.

"I believe the two men were doing a fish around before the start of the tournament, and that’s when they discovered the body, Game Warden Marion Pearson said.

Whitten said it is believed the body had been in the water for a period of two or three days before it was discovered.

"The body was taken to Tri-Lakes Medical Center and identified shortly thereafter," Whitten said.

"The autopsy, performed by Dr. Steve Hale, ruled the death as a homicide," he said.

Whitten said Nelson had contusions to the neck that, along with the drowning, led to the death.

Published reports indicate the last time Nelson was seen alive was at her home in The Cove Apartments near the Ole Miss campus.

Nelson’s car was found abandoned at another apartment complex nearby, Whitten said.

According to Cove resident Nate Downs, he was told by a neighbor that he was awakened early in the morning by the screams of a female.

"He said they were absolutely blood-curdling," Downs said.

"One of my neighbors came outside and told me a girl was pounding on his front door screaming and told him she had been raped and her car had been stolen," Downs said. "I didn’t see anything. All I could hear was her screaming."

Downs said when officers arrived at The Cove, the screaming girl could not be found.

According to Downs, once the body was discovered, police returned to the apartments, where they stayed for several hours, questioning neighbors about what happened.

Hosts for this year’s pageant are Michael Young and former Miss Mississippi Christy May. Reigning Miss Mississippi Allison Kellogg will be on stage nightly along with several entertainers.

Daniel will present opera as her talent. She has special training in ballet, tap, jazz and baton twirling. She loves to sing, dance, read and conduct research in marine biology.

The Miss Mississippi Corporation encourages the young women who participate in the program to become involved in the community, to develop Platform and to speak out on issues of concern to them, to their communities and to the nation. If Daniel is selected as Miss Mississippi, she wants to focus on the importance of literacy during her Year of Service.

Nolan West, President of W & W Contractors, told city leaders he was sent a bill in the amount of $1,200 for dumping in the landfill.

"Nobody told me we would ever be charged for using the landfill," he said.

West said the loads dumped were from the old Liberty Supermarket property that the city wanted cleaned up.

"What we cleaned up was something the board wanted done and now I get a bill for it," West said.

Mayor Richard Darby said former Public Works Director Billy Smith was never supposed to let the debris be put in the landfill in the first place.
"Mr. Smith and I had a long talk about this problem and you were never supposed to be let into the landfill," Darby said. "We do not let the public use the landfill."

Darby said the reason for the change in policy stems from problems the city had when it let another contractor dump there.

"We got hit with a pretty stiff fine by DEQ," he said.

Darby then asked West why the property was cleaned up.