Woman pleads guilty of assault during trial
A Mississippi woman pleaded guilty to assault charges on Friday after the jury deciding her fate came back deadlocked.
Lauren M. White, with a listed address of 50 County Road 119, Corinth, Miss., accepted a best interest plea for second-degree assault for her involvement in an altercation with her then-boyfriend, Kevin Barrett, on Oct. 2, 2009.
Franklin County District Attorney Joey Rushing told the jury during opening statements that on the day of the incident, Barrett and White were involved in a argument that led to Barrett breaking one of White’s electronic devices.
Barrett went outside to cool down and when he returned indoors, White was standing in front of him with both hands on a .357 magnum pistol, which she then fired.
The bullet struck Barrett in the left shoulder and he began to lose a large amount of blood. He yelled for White to call 911 but when she didn’t respond, White had to find the phone himself.
“Miss White intended to kill Mr. Barrett when she shot him that day,” Franklin County District Attorney Joey Rushing said. “She was angry at him and she was going to make him pay.”
Defense attorney Rebecca Thomason contended that the shooting was an accident.
“My client and Mr. Barrett were struggling for possession of the gun and the gun went off,” Thomason said. “She never meant to shoot him.”
After deliberating for most of the morning and a good portion of the afternoon, the jury informed Circuit Judge Terry Dempsey that they were hopelessly deadlocked.
Between the time that the jury informed the court of their indecision and the court’s instruction for them to continue deliberating, Rushing said that he spoke with the victim and his family and the prosecution and the defense were able to come to an agreement that the defendant felt would be in her best interest.
“We appreciate the jury and their service in this case because I know they worked very hard,” Rushing said. “We’re pleased that we were able to reach a settlement between both parties.”
Rushing said White will be scheduled for a sentencing hearing in a month and a half. The defense is expected to ask for probation, but Rushing said the prosecution will be seeking the full five year sentence as well as opposing probation.
