Lauderdale County named as potential venue for manslaughter trial

Published 1:15 pm Friday, December 30, 2016

Lauderdale County is being considered as the venue for a high-profile Lowndes County manslaughter case.

The case involves a former Columbus police officer, Canyon Boykin, who is charged with manslaughter in the Oct. 15, 2015, shooting death of 26-year-old Ricky Ball.

Lauderdale County is one of six counties suggested as a site for Boykin’s criminal case, according to a report by The Commercial Dispatch of Columbus. 

Boykin’s attorneys, in a document filed earlier this month, suggested Walthall, Attala and Montgomery counties as preferred sites, according to The Commercial Dispatch. The state, in a document filed Tuesday in Lowndes County Circuit Court, suggested Marshall, Pike and Lauderdale counties.

Mississippi 16th Circuit Judge Lee Coleman granted a change of venue request filed by Boykin’s attorneys, Jeffrey Reynolds of Jackson and Jim Waide of Tupelo, after a Nov. 18 hearing, The Commercial Dispatch reported. Intense media coverage and public awareness and preserving the integrity of the jury pool were cited as the reasons for the change of venue.

Both the defense and the prosecution were ordered by Coleman to submit three counties to be considered, thus urging the attorneys to consider counties with similar demographics to Lowndes County, given the nature of the case, The Commercial Dispatch reported. 

Lowndes County is 43.7 percent black and 54.3 percent white compared to Lauderdale County, which is 43.2 percent black and 54.5 percent white, according to U.S. Census statistics. Boykin is white and Ball was black.  

Coleman will review the submissions at a hearing to select a county, noting he might reject all suggestions and select a county on his own, The Commercial Dispatch reported.

Boykin shot and killed Ball the night of Oct. 16, 2015 after Ball fled on foot from a traffic stop, the Dispatch reported. Ball was a passenger in the vehicle being stopped, the newspaper reported. Lowndes County Coroner Greg Merchant said Ball was shot twice – once in the upper body and once in the lower body, the newspaper reported.

The Columbus City Council fired Boykin for having an unauthorized passenger, for not having his body camera turned on, and for derogatory social media posts he made toward women, African Americans and disabled people following the shooting, The Commercial Dispatch reported.

Lauderdale County Court Administrator Dana Wedgeworth was unavailable for comment on Friday.