Mississippi Supreme Court orders new trial in Ward murder case

The Mississippi Supreme Court’s refusal to step in has kept Sherard Eugene Ward’s murder case alive and sent it back toward Lafayette County Circuit Court, where prosecutors and defense lawyers will now prepare for another trial over the death of Marisha Danielle “Danny” Golden Ward. Ward’s voyeurism conviction remains intact, but the first-degree murder conviction that carried a life sentence is no longer final.

The ruling leaves in place the Mississippi Court of Appeals’ November 4, 2025, decision in case No. 2024-KA-00341-COA, which said the jury should have been instructed on heat-of-passion manslaughter. That lesser charge matters because it gave jurors a middle path between murder and acquittal. By declining to overturn that ruling, the Supreme Court ensured the homicide count will be tried again, with the legal fight centered on what the jury should have been told about the circumstances surrounding the shooting.

Ward was convicted in Lafayette County Circuit Court of voyeurism and first-degree murder and sentenced in 2023 to five years on the voyeurism count and life in prison for murder, with the sentences running concurrently. He also was ordered to pay $6,500 to the Crime Victim Fund. The Court of Appeals said the record included testimony from Rachel Todd and Jody Todd, who lived nearby in the County Road 1080 duplex neighborhood and said Ward stared into their windows and made sexual comments and advances. Jody Todd testified that Ward told her he wanted to “hook up” and keep it secret, and Rachel Todd reported his conduct to Summit Management on Aug. 31, 2020, before the sisters went to police.

The killing happened on Sept. 4, 2020, outside the couple’s Oxford-area duplex at 5 County Road 1080. Multiple neighbors said they heard a woman scream “No!” before two gunshots. One witness said Ward dropped a gun and fled. The appellate opinion says Ward later told his father he shot Marisha Golden Ward, and an autopsy showed she had been shot twice in the head and neck and suffered blunt-force injuries.

For the family of Marisha Golden Ward, the ruling means the criminal case is not over and the death will be examined again in open court. For Ward, it means the life sentence tied to the murder conviction is no longer secure. For Lafayette County’s court system, it means another major homicide trial, more motions over jury instructions, and a new round of hearings before any retrial date can be set.