A sudden upswing in violent deaths

By By Suzanne Monk / managing editor
March 23, 2003
A new session of Lauderdale County Circuit Court opens on Monday with the selection of a grand jury to consider felony indictments.
While the number of cases presented by District Attorney Bilbo Mitchell is expected to be smaller than usual, it is likely to include two apparent homicides at East Mississippi Correctional Facility at Lost Gap.
And that's not all.
The grand jury may consider the case against a Meridian teen-ager charged with murder in the deaths of brothers James Tingle, 75, and John Crump, 59. The panel will also probably be asked to consider an indictment against a Meridian woman charged with manslaughter in the shooting death of her brother, George Russell.
All three deaths occurred between late February and mid-March.
Meanwhile, Lauderdale County deputies were also investigating an apparent homicide. The body of 23-year-old William Gill was found March 15 near the intersection of two highways. He had been shot.
Two teen-agers were charged in connection with Gill's death one for capital murder and robbery, the other as an accessory after the fact. Their case is also likely to be presented to the grand jury.
That's a lot of violent death for one grand jury session in Lauderdale County. Most of it happened in March. Most of the defendants are teen-agers.
And, even as I wrote this column on Saturday, reporter Fredie Carmichael was gathering information about yet another apparent homicide earlier in the afternoon at Western Gardens.
What's happening?
Quick takes
As the grand jury meets, a number of hearings will take place before Lauderdale County's two Circuit Court judges.
Timber: On Monday, attorney Stewart Parrish will ask Judge Larry Roberts to dismiss a "larceny of timber" indictment against 44-year-old Clarence Jerome Lard.
Parrish says the charges in the November 2002 indictment against Lard are almost identical to those laid out in an earlier March 2002 indictment an indictment that was dismissed in August.
The only thing that changed, Parrish argued in a motion to dismiss the November 2002 indictment was the amount of money listed as the value of the timber Lard allegedly stole.
Vandalism: The eight Northeast Lauderdale students indicted for burglary and destroying public property after an Oct. 2 vandalism spree at three rival high school campuses are set to appear Tuesday before Judge Robert Bailey. At this hearing, they have the option of either pleading guilty or asking for additional time to prepare their defense. Each is represented by his own attorney.
DUI manslaughter No. 1: After a number of delays, 26-year-old Penny Withers Therrell has pleaded guilty to DUI manslaughter in the April 2001 death of her fiance, Russell Dewayne McCann.
In her petition to plead guilty, she said: "My fiance and I were on our way home after having been drinking alcoholic drinks. My attention was diverted to the floorboard of the car for CDs when I lost control of the vehicle. My fiance grabbed the steering wheel and held on to it until the accident occurred and my fiance was killed."
Therrell is scheduled to appear for sentencing Tuesday before Judge Roberts. Her plea agreement indicates that she will likely serve two years and may be required to pay funeral expenses in excess of $8,500.
DUI manslaughter No. 2: Twenty-year-old Russell Allen Carr Jr. has pleaded guilty to DUI manslaughter in the March 2002 death of passenger Jerrold H. Haguewood.
In his petition, he said: "I was driving the auto, a Ford Explorer, when it went off the pavement, and when it went back onto the pavement and then went across the road and turned over. My passenger did not have his seat belt on and was thrown out of the car and killed."
Carr is scheduled to appear Friday before Judge Roberts. His plea agreement indicates that the district attorney will recommend a sentence of no more than five years.
Computer virus: On an unrelated note, I find myself a victim of identity theft.
My AOL address has been used by hackers to send pornography to at least one of my friends. It goes without saying that I will be canceling my AOL account and kicking up sand with both AOL and Comcast, where the offensive e-mail may have originated.
In the meantime, though, I recognized the scam. There was a round of similar e-mails with viruses a couple of years ago. The e-mail comes with the subject heading "A very new game."
Inside is a four-line message: "This is a very new game/This game is my first work/You're the first player/I hope you would like it."
If you get this e-mail, for God's sake, don't open the attachment.