Arrest Made In Clarksdale Mayoral Candidate Murder

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – A man has been charged in the death of a mayoral candidate in the Mississippi Delta.

The Coahoma County Sheriff’s Department says 22-year-old Lawrence Reed of Shelby was charged with murder in the death of Marco McMillian.

The 34-year-old McMillian was a candidate for mayor of Clarksdale and was well-known in the community.

An investigation began Tuesday when a man crashed McMillian’s SUV into another car on U.S. Highway 49 near the Coahoma and Tallahatchie county lines. The candidate wasn’t in the car.

His body was found near a Mississippi River levee the following morning.

Campaign spokesman Jarod Keith says McMillian’s campaign was noteworthy because he may have been the first openly gay man to be a viable candidate for public office in Mississippi.