Killer Made Victim Dig His Own Grave

Story out of Indianola, Mississippi:

Prosecutors filed an aggravated murder charge Monday against a Mt. Pleasant man for allegedly making a man dig his own grave before killing him.

Raul Francisco Vidrio, 19, is charged in 4th District Court with killing 22-year-old Wesley Dee Nay, whose remains were found by hunters Oct. 19 in a remote wooded area on the border of Utah and Sanpete counties.

A search of Vidrio's cellphone revealed a haunting photo, his charges allege.

"A deleted image was recovered from Mr. Vidrio's phone that appears to be Mr. Nay digging his own grave," the charges state. "The image depicts Mr. Nay in the same clothing he was last seen in … digging a hole in a grassy meadow that strongly resembles the location where his remains were found."

Charred bones, including a human skull, were found in the remote area, along with burned pieces of wood. The Utah State Medical Examiner's Office identified Nay through dental records and concluded he had suffered blunt force injuries, as well as stab wounds. His body was in a shallow grave. Cont.

Story from - Desert News Utah

Black Church In Mississippi Set On Fire, "Vote Trump" Spray Painted On Outside

Story out of Greeville, Mississippi:

A church fire in Greenville is being investigated as a hate crime.

Authorities went to Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church after it was engulfed in flames Tuesday night around 9 p.m. also, the words “Vote Trump” were spray painted on the side of the building.

The pastor said the church hadn’t made any political statements and they don’t know why they were targeted.

There is minimal damage outside the church, but the sanctuary is destroyed. The glass windows are shattered, and the pews are charred black.

No one was inside when the fire broke out. Fire investigators are working now to determine how they fire started. Cont.

Story from - WJTV

Mississippi Community In Shock After Black Student Has Noose Put Around Neck By Classmates

Story out of Wiggins, Mississippi:

The president of the Mississippi NAACP is demanding a federal hate crime investigation after the parents of a black high school student said as many as four white students put a noose around their son’s neck at school.

“No child should be walking down the hall or in a locker room and be accosted with a noose around their neck,” president Derrick Johnson said Monday during a news conference in Wiggins.

Johnson said the incident happened Oct. 13 near a locker room at Stone High School in Wiggins.

The NAACP said the incident happened during a break in football practice and that the noose was “yanked backward” while on the student’s neck.

Stone High has about 800 students, about a quarter of whom are black according to state figures. That’s not a particularly high percentage in Mississippi, where half of nearly 500,000 public school students are African-American.

The Stone County Sheriff’s Department provides officers at local schools and typically is the first to respond to incidents. Sheriff’s Capt. Ray Boggs said officials believe something close to what the Paytons described did happen and said he’s still investigating. He said all the students involved are younger than 17 and he expects any charges would be filed in youth court, where records are closed to the public.

Johnson said he wants the teenagers charged as adults. That’s allowable in certain situations for people between ages 13 and 16 in Mississippi. He cited federal prosecutions of young people from Rankin County for hate crimes following the 2011 death of a man run down in the parking lot of Jackson motel as an example of what federal involvement could bring. Most of those people were charged as adults, although there was evidence of at least one unusual federal juvenile prosecution.

Carissa Bolden of Wiggins, the mother of a middle school student, attended the NAACP news conference Monday and said white students have been flying the Mississippi flag from their vehicles. The upper left corner of the state flag used since 1894 has the Confederate battle emblem – a red field topped by a blue X with 13 white stars. Bolden said she sees a connection between the flag and the noose incident. Cont.

Story from - Global News

"Tase His Ass Right Now" - Watch Judge Fly Off The Bench To Join Scuffle

                  

I appleagize, here is the right video:

                  

Story out of Jackson, Mississippi:

Clearly growing agitated, Jackson County Circuit Judge John McBain threw off his robe and helped tackle to the ground a defiant man during a hearing on a personal protection order violation.

"Tase his ass right now," the judge shouted as he rushed toward Jacob Larson, who had been talking back to the judge and blamed his alleged stalking behavior on the woman he was pursuing.

McBain had ordered the man to spend three days in jail, a period that quickly jumped to 93 days as Larson continued to aggravate the judge during the December hearing.

The resulting takedown was a rare instance of a judge using physical force, one Jackson County Chief Circuit Judge Thomas Wilson said was allowable. "A judge has the power to take whatever action is necessary to maintain order in the courtroom," he said and noted circuit court judges have arresting powers. Cont. (Video)

Story from - M Live

Two Cops Fired After Leaving 3-Year-Old To Die In Hot Patrol Car

Story out of Long Beach, Mississippi:

Two police officers were fired Tuesday following the death of the 3-year-old daughter of one of the officers. The little girl, Cheyenne Hyer, was left alone in her mother's patrol car for several hours on Friday, before she was found unresponsive.

Authorities said when the child was found, the car was running, with the air conditioner on. The child was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

According to TV station WLOX, Long Beach Police Chief Wayne McDowell on Tuesday evening, asked for the immediate termination of Officer Cassie Barker and Officer Clark Ladner. The officers had been under suspension since the incident occurred, and while it was being investigated.  Cont. (Video/Autoplay)

Story from - 11 Alive

Cop Shoots Self In Parking Lot After Being Suspended

Story out of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi:

A Mississippi police chief who had just been suspended shot and killed himself in the police department’s parking lot, officials said, in what was described as “a bad day for law enforcement.”

Bay St. Louis Police Chief Mike DeNardo shot himself in the chest, Hancock County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Don Bass said. He said the Thursday shooting appeared intentional.

“Our initial finding is a self-inflicted gunshot,” he said.

Bass said DeNardo was standing outside a vehicle when he shot himself. He did not have information on who found him and reported the shooting.

The mayor of the tourist-friendly beach community along the Mississippi Gulf Coast said DeNardo had just been suspended inside the police station when he went out to the parking lot and fatally shot himself. Specifics about the suspension weren’t available. Cont.

Story from - CBS News

Two Nuns Murdered In Their Home

Story out of Durant, Mississippi:

Authorities say two Catholic nuns were found dead in a Mississippi home where they lived.

WJTV talked to Durant’s police chief about the investigation. The chief said the women had stab wounds.

One is a member of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth in Kentucky. The other is part of the School Sisters of St. Francis in Milwaukee.

Sisters of Charity identified the victims as Paula Merrill and Margaret Held. Merrill was a member of Sisters of Charity.

The nuns were found by authorities during a welfare check after they didn’t show up for work.

Mississippi Department of Public Safety spokesman Warren Strain says it appears the nuns were homicide victims. Cont. (Video)

Story from - WJTV

Update - Arrest made.

Pregnant Woman Among 5 Killed In Alabama Massacre

They were murdered with multiple weapons including guns. Story out of Citronelle, Mississippi:

A 27-year-old man will be charged with six counts of murder in the slayings of five people, including a pregnant woman, in southern Alabama early Saturday.

The victims were identified as Chelsea Marie Reed, 22; Shannon Melissa Randall, 35; Robert Lee Brown, 26; Justin Kaleb Reed, 23; and Joseph Adam Turner, 26. They were found Saturday afternoon inside a house in the city of Citronelle, about 30 miles northwest of Mobile.

Chelsea Reed was five months pregnant, the sheriff's office said. Alabama is one of at least 23 states with a fetal homicide law that applies to any stage of pregnancy, regardless of viability.

Derrick Ryan Dearman surrendered to the Greene County Sheriff's Office in Mississippi on Saturday afternoon and was cooperating with authorities, the Alabama sheriff's office said.

Authorities were first alerted to the crime by Laneta Lester, 24, who walked into a Citronelle police station on Saturday afternoon and said he Dearman, whom she described as her boyfriend, had killed multiple people.

Lester had gone to the house where the slayings took place to stay with a relative, although police were not sure which, if any, of the victims she was related to. Lester had been in an abusive relationship with Dearman, police said, and she was trying to get away from him. Cont.

Story from - NBC News

Mississippi Senator Arrested Over Brawl With Landscaper

Anyone else see the irony in this happening in a place called Olive Branch? Story out of Olive Branch, Mississippi:

Mississippi State Senator Chris Massey and his father, Jack Massey, are accused of getting into a brawl with two landscapers, Toney Smith and Marcus Lane, in a seemingly pleasant Olive Branch neighborhood.

"There's blood on him and there is blood on me, all because I wanted to finish a man's lawn today," the landscaper said.

He said Massey and his father, who are homebuilders for the subdivision, were blocking the road and they wouldn't let them pass by.

"He spit in my employee's face and it made him so mad, so he pushed him off him and that's when the old man reached in the truck and got a shovel," the landscaper said.

It's a situation that escalated quickly and resulted in a shovel, tire iron, and other lawn equipment being swung. He said Jacky Massey even mentioned a gun he had in the car.

Other neighbors said they are not surprised at his behavior. "Jake was trying to get me to come out in the street and fight with him," Dale Spikes, homeowner, said.

Spikes said he has been forced to also file police reports about the Massey's behavior. He even went so far as to make a sign warning others. Cont. (Video)

Story from - WMC
Image from - Wellcome - Wikimedia Commons

“It Pays To Be White” - No Prison Time For Missouri University Student Who Threatened To Kill All Black People

Put a turban on his head and he's sent to a certain off shore prison.

A former Missouri University of Science and Technology student was sentenced Thursday to a three-year suspended sentence and five years of probation for posting online threats against black people as the University of Missouri campus was reeling from racial protests in November.

Hunter M. Park, 20, posted that he was going to kill black people on MU’s campus to the anonymous social media app Yik Yak on Nov. 10, the day after weeks of protests led UM System President Tim Wolfe to resign.

Park pleaded guilty in April to making a terroristic threat, a Class C felony that carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison.

A suspended execution of a sentence means the felony will stay on Park’s record even if he successfully completes probation. As a convicted felon, Park will be barred from legally possessing a gun.

Traci Wilson-Kleekamp, one of the leaders of local activist group Race Matters, Friends, criticized the sentence shortly after the hearing. The group had encouraged people to write letters urging Judge Crane to impose a harsh sentence. “It pays to be white,” she said.

In February 2015, police at Missouri S&T were notified that Park had hung a Nazi flag from a second-floor balcony of his residence hall because, according to a police report, he thought his right to free speech was being violated because other students had hung an imperial Japanese flag on campus. Police did not contact Park or arrest him that day. Cont.

Story from - Columbia Daily Tribune
Image from - Bart Emerson - Flickr
cc 2.0

Mississippi County Loses Baby's Remains After Digging Up Cemetery

Story out of Tunica County, Mississippi:

The remains of a stillborn baby are missing after officials at a Mississippi graveyard say county workers dug a ditch without permission.

"It feels like a dream. You know how you just wake up to a nightmare, and you never come out of it? That's how I felt when I woke up," Amanda Reed said.

Reed's stillborn baby's remains are missing. Nine years ago, she gave her daughter the name Heaven Sent Reed before she was buried at the Sutton Cove Graveyard.

On Tuesday, May 31st, instead the grave, all that was left was a ditch.

Neighbors spotted Tunica County workers at the cemetery last week working to address flooding concerns.

However, Christopher Thompson, who owns the Grant Funeral Home, said the county literally crossed the line. A diagram shows where Heaven Sent Reed was buried, but it was not clear if work crews knew she was there.

Deputies are investigating several reports filed with the Tunica County Sheriff -- an investigation Reed hopes will put an end to her nightmare. Cont. (Video)

Story from - Fox6Now

Woman Pulls Gun On Parent At Mississippi School

Oh, what a country. Story out of Jackson, Mississippi:

The woman who brought a handgun to Forest Hill High School has turned herself in.

38-year-old Shawana Smith is being booked at Raymond Detention Center.

Jackson Public School Superintendent Dr. Cedrick Gray met with parents at Forest Hill High School last week after a school fight escalated and Smith, a parent of a student, pulled a gun on the school campus.

Several parents spoke out and one mom says these fights caused her house to be shot into during a drive by shooting early Wednesday morning. Cont. (Video)

Story from - MS News Now

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant Signs 'Guns In Church' Law

Guns and crazy people, what could go wrong?

Gov. Phil Bryant has signed into law the Mississippi Church Protection Act to allow churches to legally have armed security if they choose.

Bryant signed House Bill 786 on Friday.

Bryant said in a Twitter post he signed the bill because "churches deserve protection from those who would harm worshippers."

State Rep. Andy Gipson, who authored the bill and is a ministe, has said ."I wish we lived in a world where this bill wouldn't be necessary."

The Mississippi Police Chiefs Association has express concerns about the bill, saying it will do away with a license to carry a concealed handgun in public and would put law enforcement and all Mississippians in harm's way.

The Police Chiefs Association says the bill would lower the bar for who can carry a concealed, loaded gun in public to include violent criminals, some severely mentally ill people, and chronic alcoholics. Cont.

Story from - The Clarion-Ledger

"You Didn’t Tell Me You Was Married To No Black Man” - Interracial Couple Evicted From RV Park

Mississippi you say? Story out of Tupelo Mississippi:

A Mississippi RV park owner evicted an interracial couple because of the color of their skin.

“Me and my husband, not ever in 10 years have we experienced any problem,” said Erica Flores Dunahoo, who is Hispanic and Native American and whose husband, a National Guardsman, is African-American. “Nobody’s given us dirty looks. This is our first time.”

In February, Dunahoo, 40, and her 37-year-old husband, Stanley Hoskins, who have two children, were looking to rent an RV space when she contacted Baker. “We were trying to save money to get our life on track,” she said.

On Feb. 28, she arrived at the RV park and gave Baker a $275 check for rent for the month.

“He was real nice,” she said. “He invited me to church and gave me a hug. I bragged on him to my family.”

The next day, she said, Baker telephoned her and said, “Hey, you didn’t tell me you was married to no black man.”

She said she replied that she didn’t realize it was a problem.

“Oh, it’s a big problem with the members of my church, my community and my mother-in-law,” she quoted him as saying. “They don’t allow that black and white shacking.” Cont. (Video)

Story from - The Clarion-Ledger
Image from - Stewart Black - Flickr
cc 2.0

Dog Finds And Brings Back $1,000 Worth Of Marijuana To Owners

Story out of Jones County, Mississippi:

Last weekend, the black lab mix from Mississippi returned from a bathroom trip with a bag. Her owners believed it was just trash.

“That’s what our family pets sometimes do: they go out and bring back garbage,” said Allyson Knotts from the Jones County Sheriff’s Office. “So the owner was going to clean up the mess and he smelled the odour and thought ‘This isn’t garbage.’”

It was a bag of marijuana worth about $1,000, which was separated into individual bags, presumably for distribution or sale. Cont. (Video)

Story from - Global News

Mississippi Governor Declares April “Confederate Heritage Month”

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant signed a proclamation declaring April “Confederate Heritage Month” in the state, which comes amid a controversial debate over removing the Confederate battle emblem from the state flag. 

The proclamation, signed Feb. 10, does not appear on the official State of Mississippi website but was posted on the website of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, which opposes efforts to change the Mississippi flag, the Jackson Free Press reported.

Removal of the Confederate battle flag from landmarks across the South became a heated issue after a June 2015 shooting at a black church in Charleston, S.C. left nine people dead. The Times-Picayune reported Thursday that Bryant’s office confirmed the governor had issued the proclamation. Cont.

Story from - TIME

2 Dead After Mardi Gras Parade Shooting

Story out of Pass Christian, Mississippi:

Two people were shot to death and four were hospitalized in a shooting on Davis Avenue after the St. Paul Carnival Association's Mardi Gras parade Sunday afternoon.

Carlos Bates, 29, of Gulfport, and Isaiah Major III, 43 of Bay St. Louis, each died of a gunshot wound at the scene, Harrison County Coroner Gary Hargrove said.

Their bodies, about 20 feet apart, had been covered by yellow sheets in the middle of Davis Avenue near Ladnier Street after first responders took control of the scene. Two children and a woman held each other and cried as they stood near one of the bodies near perimeter police had secured with yellow caution tape. Cont.

Story from - The Sun Herald

Gun Shop Owner, Son Killed Over $25 Firearm Repair Fee

Story out of Pearl River County, Mississippi:

According to Pearl River County Sheriff David Allison, 44-year old Jason McLemore, who owned McLemore Gun Shop, and his 17-year old son Jacob, were killed after a disagreement with two customers.

The two customers -- who are also a father-son pair -- were both injured during the altercation. McLemore and his teenage son were pronounced dead at the scene.

Authorities say that Michael McCool, 29, is the alleged shooter, accused of shooting both victims using a 40-caliber pistol.

According to Sheriff Allison, Audy McCool, 52, and his son Michael McCool, went to the shop to retrieve a weapon around 3:15 p.m. After being told it was not repaired, one of the men reportedly became agitated over paying a $25 service charge even though his gun was not fixed.

The wife of Jason McLemore, who was at the counter when the customers came in, called her husband and son to de-escalate the situation. Both father and son pairs began to argue, resorting to physical violence and, eventually, gunfire. Cont.

Story from - WLOX ABC