Deputies detain Memphis man after altercation at Tunica service station
Deputies broke up a parking-lot disturbance at Zip Trip and detained Kemarion Ward, a Memphis man already tied to a Delta murder case.
Tunica County deputies de-escalated a disturbance at the Zip Trip Service Station and detained a Memphis man already linked to a regional murder investigation, turning a midday traffic-stop response into a case with reach well beyond one parking lot.
Deputies were conducting a traffic stop at about 1:10 p.m. Monday, May 25, when they were alerted to the altercation in the service station parking lot. When deputies arrived, the Tunica County Sheriff’s Office said they brought the scene under control and detained 20-year-old Kemarion Ward of Memphis, Tennessee. The sheriff’s office said charges were still pending and did not immediately spell out what offenses Ward may face.
Ward’s arrest carried added weight because he was already out on bond for a murder charge in Sunflower County and faced additional charges in Indianola. The Tunica County detention did not appear to be a standalone disorder case, but rather the latest law-enforcement contact involving a man already under serious scrutiny in multiple Mississippi jurisdictions.
U.S. Marshals said Ward was wanted in connection with the Dec. 10, 2023, shooting death of Germaniee Stephens in Indianola. Sunflower County issued an arrest warrant for Ward on Jan. 24, 2024, and the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force adopted the case on Feb. 9, 2024, in Oxford. A separate U.S. Marshals release said Ward was arrested in Memphis on July 8, 2025, as a 19-year-old first-degree murder suspect.
The Tunica County Sheriff’s Office also maintains an online booking roster, and Ward appeared in that system after the May 25 detention, showing the local stop was processed through the county jail system. While deputies have not released the specific allegations tied to the Tunica County incident, the arrest tied together a parking-lot disturbance, an active traffic stop and a man with pending murder-related cases stretching from Indianola to Sunflower County.
For Tunica County, the case is a reminder that routine patrol work can intersect quickly with more serious interstate and regional fugitive activity. The investigation remains open, and the pending charge decision will determine whether the local detention becomes part of a broader prosecutorial chain or stands as a separate case arising from the service station confrontation.
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