The city of Vicksburg is stepping up alongside CrimeStoppers to increase the reward for information leading to an arrest in connection to some of Vicksburg’s unsolved murders from 2020.

In a letter to Mayor George Flaggs Jr. on Wednesday, Lt. Johnnie Edwards, commander of the Vicksburg Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division, asked that the city match the $2,500 already offered by CrimeStoppers, bringing the reward for key information to $5,000.

The additional incentive would be information leading to the arrest in five murders in 2020 where an arrest has not been made.

“The criminal investigation unit has been working diligently to make arrests to bring closure to the five unsolved homicides,” Edwards wrote in his letter to the mayor. “We are asking the City of Vicksburg, Mayor and Board of Aldermen, to contribute funds to CrimeStoppers in an effort to increase the award amount for information that will lead to the apprehension and conviction of the perpetrators.”

Flaggs said Wednesday afternoon that the city would “absolutely” support the department’s efforts and approve the additional reward money.

In total, the department is asking the city to pledge $12,500.

The 2020 homicides without an arrest include:

• Feb. 22 — Brandin Lane was shot in a drive-by on Bazinsky Road
• May 12 — Demarcus Precealy was shot on South Street near his home on South Street
• Oct. 6 — Wade Carter was shot near LD’s Lounge on Mulberry Street. The suspect, James Earl Winters, remains at large.
• Oct. 19 — Karl Singleton was shot multiple times at his home on Enchanted Drive
• Nov. 26 — Joshua Coffee was shot multiple times on Harrison Street

Anyone with information about the identity of this suspect is asked to contact the Vicksburg Police Department at 601-636-2511 or CrimeStoppers at 601-355-8477.