Mississippi woman receives probation in shooting case

A Mississippi woman will receive five years probation for her involvement in an altercation that led to the non-fatal shooting of her boyfriend in October of 2009.

At a sentencing hearing on Monday, Franklin County Circuit Judge Terry Dempsey sentenced Lauren M. White, 19, formerly of 50 County Road 119, Corinth, Miss., to a five-year sentence to be suspended for five years.

White will be on probation for five years for the second-degree assault charge she pleaded guilty to in December, Franklin County Assistant District Attorney Doug Evans said.

According to court records, White agreed to plead guilty to the assault charge during her trial when the jury deciding her fate came back deadlocked.

Franklin County District Attorney Joey Rushing contended at trial that White and her former boyfriend, Kevin Barrett, were involved in an argument. When Barrett broke White’s PSP gaming device, she shot him in the shoulder with a .357 magnum pistol.

Defense attorney Rebecca Thomason said the shooting was accidental. At trial she said White and Barrett were struggling for the gun and it went off.

Barrett was treated and released and eventually made a full recovery.

After several hours of deliberations, the jury informed Dempsey they were deadlocked and would not be able to reach a decision, which is when White entered into the best interest plea.

“Since Judge Dempsey heard all the facts in this case, we felt he could make the determination as to what sentence the defendant deserved,” Rushing said. “We just wanted to make sure we left it to where she would receive prison time if that’s the punishment he thought she deserved.

“The jury stood at 10 to two in favor of acquittal when they came back hung, so I’m sure Judge Dempsey took that into account when considering her sentence.”