Valtricia Garrett, a 53 year old mother and grandmother known around Vicksburg, Mississippi as “Ms. Val,” was found dead in the passenger seat of her husband’s car Friday morning after he went on Facebook Live and admitted to killing her.
Video:
Police identified her husband as Cedric Garrett, 40. He started the livestream from his own account early Friday, November 13, from inside the vehicle while Valtricia sat unmoving beside him. He called his wife “Val” and said the two had been together for 16 years. He apologized several times and said he had messed up. He also said he had reached out for help before. Then he said he planned to take his own life.
Her brother, Andre Moore, learned what happened through that video. “I got a phone call from my friend saying that her husband was online saying that he had killed my sister,” Moore told WLBT.
Around 9 a.m., Vicksburg police responded to a welfare check behind the Vicksburg Convalescent Home near Shannon and Cherry streets after a report of an armed man inside a vehicle. Cedric’s mother reportedly worked at the nursing home, and he said during the broadcast that he was headed there.
Officers secured the area and tried to talk him into putting the gun down. Vicksburg Police Chief Larry Burns said it looked like the talks were working.
“I want to say we probably spoke with him upward of 20 minutes, and it seemed as if it was going in that direction. And then all of a sudden, he took the weapon and took his life,” Burns said.
Made to order and shipped to your door.
Officers then confirmed that Valtricia Garrett was dead inside the car. Burns has not said how she died. Investigators believe Cedric killed her before taking his own life, and the department’s Criminal Investigation Division is investigating both deaths.
Burns said the couple had a documented history of domestic violence. Moore said his sister had already separated from Cedric and was trying to move forward with her life.
This was not the first time Cedric Garrett took a life. On September 13, 2002, when he was 16, he fatally stabbed his 20 year old brother, Derrick Dewayne Maxey, during an argument at their family home on Oakland Street in Vicksburg. He picked up a knife and stabbed Maxey once in the left side. Maxey was rushed to River Region Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, and Cedric was taken into custody. How that case was resolved in court has not been reported.
For Valtricia Garrett’s family, this is the second loss in about a month. Moore said they buried their mother roughly 30 days ago, and now they are planning another funeral.
“There’s no words that I can possibly say for the loss of my sister,” Moore said. He remembered her as someone who showed up for people. “She was a loving person in the community. She would help anybody.”
Vicksburg Mayor Willis Thompson has called for prayer, compassion and unity as the city grieves.
If you or someone you love is being abused, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24 hours a day at 1 800 799 7233, or you can text START to 88788. If you are thinking about suicide, call or text 988.
COWARD.
I hope he suffers eternally in whatever after-life there may be.