Coast woman killed ex for being late picking her up for plasma donation, prosecutors say
A Gulfport woman who tried to hide that she shot her ex-boyfriend after driving him to a hospital for treatment one day before his death is headed to prison for 30 years for murder, according to Harrison County District Attorney Crosby Parker.
A jury last week convicted Edna Charlene Rivers, 40, of second-degree murder and tampering with physical evidence.
Judge Christopher Schmidt imposed the sentence.
A criminal investigation began on Oct. 26, 2022, when Harrison County sheriff’s deputies went to Singing River Hospital in response to a report about a shooting victim identified as Kendray Stallworth, 35, of Gautier.
In the subsequent criminal investigation, authorities obtained video surveillance footage from the hospital that showed Rivers arriving with Stallworth.
Rivers went inside, the release said, and told a nurse she needed someone to help her “friend” because he had been “either shot or stabbed.”
Initially, Rivers told authorities that she drove Stallworth to the hospital after he showed up at her home, felt cold, and then collapsed there.
Harrison County authorities then searched Rivers’ home on Freemont Street and recovered a 9mm shell casing on the kitchen counter and saw blood.
River eventually admitted shooting her ex-boyfriend during a domestic dispute after she invited him to her home because she needed a ride to the plasma center. River said she got angry when her ex-boyfriend arrived much later than expected.
Harrison County sheriff’s deputies learned during the investigation that Rivers had also called 911 after shooting Stallworth, but the calls lasted 8 seconds before Rivers hung up.
“Instead of remaining on the call or calling 911 again, the defendant made several calls to her sister in Biloxi, asking her to drive to Gulfport to help load the victim into his car,” Assistant District Attorney Jasmine Magee said in a release.
“More than an hour passed from the time Mr. Stallworth had been shot to the time he arrived at the hospital—valuable time that could’ve been used to save his life,” Magee said.
After the shooting, Rivers said she put the gun in her purse and then gave it to her sister.
The release said Rivers’ sister followed her to the hospital and was supposed to drop Rivers back off at her home after she dropped Stallworth off.
Harrison County deputies later recovered the murder weapon and shell casing.
Rivers’ sister is also facing charges of accessory after the fact to murder and hindering prosecution. That case is pending.
In addition to a 20-year sentence for second-degree murder, Rivers also pleaded guilty to tampering with physical evidence, the judge tacked on an additional 10 years for her to serve in prison.
