In six different deaths , Zedrick Rashad Wilson, Adam Shirley, Aubrey Jordan, Truitt Pace, Kenmonten Wooten and Michael Reese were arrested in 2018. 

Law enforcement officers investigated eight deaths in Meridian and two in Lauderdale County in 2018, a decrease from the 14 total investigations in 2017.

Officers filed charges in seven deaths and are searching for suspects in two others. One death occurred in the back of a police car and remains under investigation. 

“Many homicides are spur of the moment or heat of the moment events, they’re not thought out or planned efforts,” Lauderdale County Sheriff Billy Sollie said. 

Sollie’s department investigated two deaths this year, both stemming from arguments that escalated between family members. Many of the death investigations in the county involve domestic disputes, one of the reasons Sollie said his department focuses on de-escalation techniques.

“We’re fortunate to have officers with specialized training to de-escalate conflict when they arrive,” Sollie said. 

Sollie said that changes to domestic violence laws that state officers shall arrest a perpetrator, rather than can arrest, has decreased the number of domestic disputes that become violent.

“I definitely think it’s had an effect,” Sollie said, adding that even traffic fatalities have decreased within the county. “Through strong enforcement and media education, our fatalities on county roads have dramatically decreased. In my first two terms (as sheriff), we regularly had five to 15 fatalities. Our numbers have been below five in the last few years.”

The two deaths investigated by the sheriff’s department in 2018 both started as arguments, one between a husband and wife and the other between a mother and son. 

On June 15, deputies arrived at the home of Truitt Thomas Pace and Marsha Danielle Pace, a married couple living on the 700 block of Brown Hooke Road, north of Bailey.

Deputies responded to a domestic disturbance around 10:20 p.m. and found Marsha Pace unresponsive after an apparent gunshot wound to the head. She was taken by Metro Ambulance to a local hospital where she died.

Investigators said they had no previous calls to the home. 

Truitt Pace, who bonded out on June 22, faces charges for second-degree murder and child abuse and neglect. A 10-year-old child was home at the time of the shooting but sustained no injuries. 

In another case, officials said Michael Gerard Reese, 53, was charged with capital murder and arson stemming from an Oct. 18 fire that killed his 84-year-old mother, Irma Jean Reese.

Investigators reported that Michael Reese had fought with his mother before the fire that destroyed their home on Bailey Acres Circle. The fire injured Michael Reese and a preliminary autopsy on Irma Reese reported that she had died from smoke inhalation.

Michael Reese remains in custody in Lauderdale County since he was denied bond for the capital murder charge.

There has been no report of grand jury action in the cases against Reese or Pace. 

City of Meridian deaths

Early in the year, Meridian police investigated a shooting death that stemmed from an argument between two roommates.

Police arrested Adam Shirley, 47, and charged him with the death of his roommate, James Dearman, 48. Dearman died from two close-range gunshot wounds to the chest at a home on the 1100 block of 24th Avenue on Feb. 4. 

Shirley, of New Orleans, remains in custody and was denied bond. Sgt. Dareall Thompson said the Meridian Police Department is ready to present Shirley’s case before the next available grand jury. 

Many city death investigations with identified suspects had young suspects and victims, many under the age of 20. 

Meridian Police Chief Benny Dubose said that many death investigations and many non-fatal shootings in the past had involved young adults.

“We have juveniles involved in several shootings,” Dubose said. “The people that were involved knew the victim and it was the result of a disagreement.”

In the spring, police charged Johtavis A. Tell, 15, with manslaughter following the March 30 shooting death of his younger sister at their mother’s Western Gardens apartment in Meridian.

Municipal Judge Robbie Jones lowered Tell’s bond from $100,000 to $25,000 on the condition that he be released to the custody of his father and paternal grandparents on April 2. Tell bonded out on April 4.

Other young victims include Will T. Davis, 19, and Jamarcus Lloyd, 18, both of whom may have died at the hands of equally young suspects, police said.

Zedrick Rashad Wilson, 16, faces charges for the April 11 death of Davis, who died in the 4600 block of Manning Court. 

Police took Wilson into custody the same day, saying the two young men knew each other and both lived in Meridian. Wilson has a $100,000 bond and remains in the custody of the Lauderdale County Detention Facility.  

In a separate case, Lloyd died June 11 from a gunshot wound to the back in the 3700 block of Paulding Street in Meridian. Police charged 17-year-old Kenmonten Wooten with murder and drive-by shooting. Wooten remains in the custody at the Lauderdale County Detention Facility with a $400,000 bond, or $200,000 for each charge. 

Both Wilson’s and Wooten’s cases are ready to be presented before the next available grand jury, Thompson said. 

At least one 2018 death prompted a federal investigation after a March shooting outside of “Just Friends” AKA JR’s Lounge paralyzed Anton Ford, who died on June 3 following complications from pneumonia and a pulmonary embolism, both related to his gunshot wounds. 

Police charged Aubrey Maurice Jordan, 26, with attempted murder and possession of a weapon by a felon following the March shooting, upgrading the charges to murder after Ford’s death. 

Ford had served as a confidential source for the East Mississippi Drug Task Force and participated in controlled buys with Jordan’s co-defendants, Monroe L. Hughes and Cortez Lakeith Byrd, investigators said. 

Federal investigators took over the case after the March shooting and eventually charged the three Meridian men with witness tampering resulting in death, drug trafficking and conspiracy. 

The case continues to make its way through the U.S. Southern District Court of Mississippi. If convicted, the defendants could face the death penalty. 

Two Meridian deaths have no suspects and investigators have released little information about the crimes.

Jamirah Stephens, 39, was found in a van with a gunshot wound to the back of his head on June 18 after Stephens’ van struck a house on the 2200 block of 26th Street.

Police suspect the motive was robbery and are still looking for possible suspects, Thompson said.

On July 25, police found the body of McComb resident Prince Gardner, 28, with a gunshot wound to the head near 42nd Avenue and 36th Street. Police haven’t yet determined a motive in the case, Thompson said. 

Local law enforcement called in the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations to investigate the death of an unidentified man, who died in custody on Feb. 19 on North Lakeland Drive, just north of Morgan Road.

The man reportedly led police on a chase that began within city limits and ended in the county, with a conservation officer with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries & Parks assisting with the arrest.

Further information on the death has not been released and a request for more information from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations wasn’t returned by the deadline for this report. 

Accidental shooting

In another young death not included in this count, a 12-year-old died of an accidental, self-inflicted gunshot wound at home in a St. Francis apartment. 

“Children aren’t supposed to have guns, so there aren’t really any gun safety classes structured toward them,” Dubose said, adding that police and youth organizations give generic safety lessons but nothing specific. “The bottom line is these individuals know that guns kill and they shouldn’t be playing with them.”

Dubose advised that parents should be aware of the weapons they have at home and whether their children were accessing guns elsewhere.

“I think parents need to make sure their weapons are secured,” Dubose said. “But some juveniles are getting weapons off of the streets. We can do a better job of getting guns off the streets and out of the hands of these juveniles.”