U.S. marshals catch murder suspect in Florida

West Memphis man arrested in connection with Mississippi shooting

By William Moore

Tribune Content Agency

VERO BEACH, Fla. – After four weeks on the run, a West Memphis man wanted for capital murder was arrested by federal and local law enforcement in central Florida.

U.S. Marshals and the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office arrested 23-year-old Rashawn Jamar Hawkins Thursday afternoon in Vero Beach, Florida. Drone video of the arrest shows Hawkins quickly surrendering by laying face down on the ground when the armed law enforcement stormed the triplex around 1:30 p.m.

The Corinth, Mississippi Police Department had been looking for Hawkins since the early morning hours of Jan.

15 when a man was shot and killed during an armed robbery on the east side of town.

Hawkins, originally from the West Memphis area, had relocated to Corinth where the crime occurred. He was believed to be likely hiding out in his home town, but instead of heading northwest to West Memphis, he apparently went southeast. Vero Beach is on the Atlantic Ocean, about halfway down the Florida peninsula.

Hawkins waived extradition but is still 13 hours away.

Corinth Police Chief Landon Tucker said officers will leave Saturday morning on the 850mile one-way journey to pick Hawkins up and return him to face charges in Alcorn County.

Corinth police responding to 3830 Prosper Street around 2:30 a.m. Jan. 15 discovered Patrick Lakendrick Patterson, 24, with an apparent single gunshot wound in the torso.

The two women who lived at the house initially said a black male entered the house, shot Patterson and then fled. But police believed the women had more to do with the situation and quickly identified the women and two men as suspects.

“We know the females called Patterson and talked him into coming over to the house,” detective Heather Russell said. “They initiated the setup so that (the men) could rob him.”

Antonius Nassir Bean, 22, of Corinth; Virginia Schauer, 25, of North Dakota; and Mariah Vanderwal, 22, of Iuka; were arrested the same day, charged with capital murder and ordered to be held without bond. The two women are also accused of removing evidence from the house before the police arrived. They were also charged with obstruction – tampering with physical evidence.

This is not the first time in recent history that the male suspects have run into trouble with the law. Bean was indicted on two counts of aggravated assault in November 2024 for shooting a gun at two women in August 2024 in the 600 block of North Parkway. Hawkins has an active arrest warrant for a Dec. 29, 2024 carjacking.

HAWKINS