Body found in Greene County leads to murder charge against Jaquan Lee

Investigators located the body of 39-year-old Lazarus Cornell Mitchell in Greene County on February 19 and arrested 28-year-old Jaquan Lewis Lee that same day, charging him with murder, officials said. Demopolis Police and the District Attorney’s Major Crimes Unit led the probe that transformed a mid-February missing-person report into a homicide investigation.

Demopolis Police began handling the missing-person matter in mid-February; the department said it began investigating on Feb. 15 while District Attorney Rachel England told WBRC that Mitchell was reported missing by his family on Monday, Feb. 16. Demopolis Police Chief Rex Flowers said, “Mitchell was last seen alive in Boligee, Alabama.” The case prompted partnership with Rachel England’s Major Crime Task Force, which Abc3340 identified as including investigators from the District Attorney’s Office, the Demopolis Police Department, and the Greene County Sheriff’s Office.

WBRC identified the victim as Lazarus Cornell Mitchell and reported he “worked out of town as an electrician.” Homicide investigators with the Major Crimes Unit found Mitchell’s body “Thursday afternoon in a wooded area near Weston Circle in Forkland,” according to WBRC. District Attorney England told reporters bluntly, “It’s a murder.” Authorities have not released cause of death or autopsy results.

Investigators also discovered Mitchell’s vehicle burned about 14 miles away, WBRC reported; the outlet did not specify the car’s exact recovery coordinates. Later on Feb. 19, authorities arrested Jaquan Lewis Lee, 28, of Marengo County. Abc3340 and WBRC both reported Lee was charged with murder in connection with Mitchell’s death. England said the two men “knew each other ‘socially’” and added that Lee is “someone prosecutors are familiar with.” England noted, “He was prosecuted for shooting an individual with assault first degree back in ’22.”

Rachel England created the Major Crimes Unit in early November to give local prosecutors and investigators centralized resources across Marengo, Sumter and Greene counties. WBRC called this the unit’s first active murder investigation in 2026. England praised the investigators involved and said the unit was designed “for this very purpose; better resources, improved synergy between agencies with more investigative power.” She added, “It helps with jurisdiction issues. It allows Demopolis officers to work in Greene County, so it’s really good.”

Lee is in custody and has been charged, but he is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court. England declined, “for now,” to discuss an alleged motive and said there is the possibility of additional arrests in connection with Mitchell’s death. Chief Flowers reiterated that the matter remains an active investigation by what he called the 17th Judicial Circuit Major Crimes Unit.

Authorities continue to process the scene and pursue leads across county lines; officials have not released booking details, court dates, or medical examiner findings as the Major Crimes Unit advances the case.