PONTOTOC, Miss. — A 21-year-old man was sentenced Wednesday to 45 years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections after pleading guilty to charges connected to a 2022 shooting, a news release from the district attorney said.
Dalton Keith Wages entered guilty pleas June 17 to manslaughter with a gun enhancement, simple assault on a police officer and witness intimidation, according to the release from District Attorney Jason D. Herring. At a June 23 sentencing hearing, Pontotoc County Circuit Court Judge John R. White imposed a combined 45-year sentence.
The manslaughter charge stems from the Sept. 17, 2022, shooting death of Matthew Tyson Westmoreland in Pontotoc County, the release said. The Pontotoc County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case, and Assistant District Attorneys Paul Gault and Sidra Winter prosecuted it on behalf of the state.
The sentence sends Wages to the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. The district attorney’s office issued the information in a press release. We will provide more information as it becomes available.
