MADISON COUNTY, Miss. (WJTV) – The Mississippi Court of Appeals affirmed the convictions and sentencings of one of the men convicted in the Kingston Frazier case.
According to the court, a Madison County Circuit Court jury convicted Dwan Wakefield of accessory after the fact to murder, accessory after the fact to kidnapping, and accessory after the fact to auto theft.
He was sentenced to 20 years for accessory after the fact to murder, 20 years with five suspended for accessory after the fact to kidnapping, and five years for accessory after the fact to vehicle theft.
The circuit court denied Wakefield’s post-trial motion, and Wakefield appealed. According to court records, Wakefield asserted that the circuit court lacked jurisdiction over his case, the three separate convictions under the same statute violated his right to protection against double jeopardy and the evidence was insufficient to support the verdicts.
He also stated that the verdicts were against the overwhelming weight of the evidence, the indictment failed to charge an essential element of accessory after the fact and the circuit court erred in admitting autopsy and crime scene photographs depicting the deceased victim.
However, the Mississippi Court of Appeals found no error and affirmed Wakefield’s convictions and sentences.
Prosecutors said Wakefield witnessed Byron McBride steal the vehicle of Kingston Frazier’s mother outside a Kroger in Jackson on May 18, 2017. Kingston, 6, was inside the vehicle, and an Amber Alert was issued for him.
The car was later found abandoned in Madison County, and Frazier was found shot to death.
Wakefield was the only one out of the three suspects who did not take a plea deal.
McBride was sentenced to life in prison, and D’Allen Washington was sentenced to 15 years in prison for armed robbery and accessory after the fact charges. Washington was released by an order from the Mississippi Parole Board in February 2022.