Police Chief Benny DuBose said preliminary autopsy results on the body of Sharon Scott show the 43-year-old hanged herself while in custody at the Meridian Police Department.
DuBose’s remarks came Wednesday during the mayor’s semimonthly press conference. DuBose added, however, that investigator Danny Knight of the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations has not completed his review.
It is routine, in situations where the actions of a law enforcement agency are under scrutiny, to call in an outside investigator.
“The report indicated that it was a suicide; they referred to the cause of death as ligature hanging. Ligature means using another object to hang one’s self, whether it be a shoestring, a rope or whatever,” DuBose said.
Lauderdale County Coroner Clayton Cobler said official autopsy results should be available in about six months.
Scott apparently hanged herself with a bed sheet on April 11, after she was arrested for several alleged traffic violations, including speeding, disobeying a traffic device and driving under the influence with refusal to take a sobriety test.
A candlelight vigil in her honor was held on Sunday; her funeral was held Tuesday at Mt. Sinai Baptist Church.
In other business
Also during the press conference, Meridian Mayor John Robert Smith said the city will take control of Brown Printing, 617 23rd Ave., as soon as the necessary paperwork has been signed.
The building was condemned Tuesday after the Meridian City Council voted to exercise its right of eminent domain over the building and the land on which it rests.
Benji Brown, son of owners Joe and Choxie Brown, said the company plans to relocate to Front Street. He said the move from a three-story building to a one-story building will make life easier, and he is excited about the change.
The 23rd Avenue building, and the former bus station that adjoins it, will make way for expanded City Hall grounds. Smith said he hopes the work will be complete before 2009 — when City Hall’s lawn will extend to 23rd Avenue, across from the Dough Boy monument.
Smith also said the city has received a second payment of a little more than $1.8 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for post-Katrina cleanup costs.
The mayor said the first payment was about $700,000; all told, the city spent $3 million to $4 million on hurricane recovery.
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