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This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
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Jackson State University is hosting a memorial service at noon today (Monday, Dec. 3) for murdered student Latasha Norman. Police found Norman, a 20-year-old accounting major from Greenville, dead Thursday. She had been missing for more than two weeks. Her ex-boyfriend, Stanley Cole, is in jail without bond. Norman reported on Oct. 9 that he had punched her in a parking lot in Pearl, but he was not arrested for that incident until Nov. 15, two days after Norman was reported missing. When he showed up for his hearing on Nov. 29 for that incident, police took him in for questioning. He reportedly led them to her body.

Previous Comments

R.I.P. sweet soul


Such a price to pay for such a beautiful, intelligent and focused young lady. It is evident that she was loved by many and will be missed. I also feel empathic for the parents, other family members and friends of the young man you took her life. It is sad that no one saw this accident before it happened.

Founding Editor Donna Ladd is a writer, journalist and editor from Philadelphia, Miss., a graduate of Mississippi State University and later the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, where she was an alumni award recipient in 2021. She writes about racism/whiteness, poverty, gender, violence, journalism and the criminal justice system. She contributes long-form features and essays to The Guardian when she has time, and was the co-founder and editor-in-chief of the Jackson Free Press. She co-founded the statewide nonprofit Mississippi Free Press with Kimberly Griffin in March 2020, and the Mississippi Business Journal named her one of the state's top CEOs in 2024. Read more at donnaladd.com, follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @donnerkay and email her at donna@mississippifreepress.org.