MADISON COUNTY, Miss. (WJTV) – Three Canton men have been convicted in connection to a murder for hire plot that ended in a shootout in November 2021.

District Attorney Bubba Bramlett said Dondre Blackmon and Corrie Ollie were both convicted of conspiracy to commit murder. They were each sentenced to serve 20 years in prison.

Ollie also pled guilty to felon in possession of a firearm and received an additional five years on that charge.

Bramlett said Xavious Johnson pled guilty to aggravated assault and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

On November 4, 2021, police were called to the area of Highland Colony and Old Agency Road after receiving calls about two cars traveling on Highland Colony shooting at one another.

Authorities found one of the vehicles involved on the shoulder of I-55 southbound.

Bramlett said Anterrion Robinson, LaChristopher Smith, and Tyrone Lewis were outside the car between the ditch and a wood line. Lewis had been shot in the arm, and he received medical aid at the scene.

After an investigation, police determined that the shooting had stemmed from a murder for hire plot.

According to Bramlett, Blackmon, a local businessman, had contracted Ollie to kill Lewis for $20,000. He paid Ollie $5,000 as a down payment on the hit.

The district attorney said Ollie and Johnson used social media to track down Lewis at Walk-On’s restaurant in Ridgeland. When Lewis left the scene, Ollie and Johnson followed him. The shootout happened as the two cars went through the roundabout and merged onto the interstate in Ridgeland.

Bramlett said the investigation showed that Blackmon was angry with Lewis over a business deal that had gone wrong, and Lewis refused to pay Blackmon back.