Man pleads guilty to capital murder and attempted murder

CANTON — A Canton man has pleaded guilty in connection to a pair of shootings that left one woman dead and a man with a gunshot wound to his face in the winter of 2019 near Canton.

Terrence J. Caldwell, 27, of Canton pleaded guilty on Monday, April 5, to the December 2019 murder of Domino’s Pizza driver Helerica “Latrice” Dortch and the attempted murder of gas station attendant Ranjit Singh.

Court documents filed with the Circuit Clerk’s office say that Caldwell will face sentencing on Monday, April 19.

Madison County Sheriff's deputies arrested Caldwell, then 25 years old, on Dec. 19, 2019, in connection with the two incidents in December 2019.

Caldwell was arrested on charges of capital murder, attempted murder, two counts of armed robbery, felon carrying a concealed weapon, taking a motor vehicle and sexual battery.

Madison County Sheriff Randy Tucker said in a press release at the time that Caldwell was the only suspect in the shooting of Singh and the murder of Dortch. Tucker said the arrest came as a result of an investigation conducted by his office, the United States Marshal Service, the Lexington Police Department, the Holmes County Sheriff's Department, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and the Canton Police Department.

Singh was shot in the face at approximately 4 a.m. Dec. 19, 2019, when he was working at the JASCO on Peace Street in Canton. Dortch, a Domino’s Pizza delivery driver, was found dead Dec. 17, 2019, near the site of her abandoned car in a rural part of Madison County west of Canton.

Dortch was first reported missing on Friday, Dec. 13, 2019.