Kendrick Brown, who was facing felony cocaine charges, could have faced up to life in prison under Mississippi’s three strikes habitual offender law because of two earlier felony drug convictions.
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Guest said Brown was not a witness or a suspect in other current criminal cases, as mentioned by the Associated Press.
Wells was in the county jail with a bail hearing set for 10 a.m. Tuesday. She says that as a felony, it was sent to circuit court.
The man charged in the fatal shooting of a defendant outside a Mississippi courthouse has had some minor traffic infractions but has never been arrested.
On Tuesday, Gwendolyn Miles, deputy court clerk in Canton, confirmed the July 1 charge against 24-year-old William B. Wells to an Associated Press reporter.
The 1996 movie “A Time to Kill”, based on John Grisham’s novel, was filmed in part at the old Madison County courthouse. Officials are investigating whether Brown was retaliating for the recent nonfatal shooting of his mother. Police say he is a former firefighter with no criminal history.
“You know I can’t speculate on why”. The Canton Police Department sits at the rear of the parking lot, less than 200 yards from the front door of the courthouse. The chief refused to give her name, citing the ongoing investigation. Guest said that the officers present at the time could have probably done nothing to prevent the incident from occurring.
She described the victim as a giving person and said he didn’t do anything that would have caused him to be shot to death.
A bail hearing is set for Tuesday. Brown’s brother, who was not identified, also was at the shooting scene. He got out walked up to Kendrick Brown and shot him in the chest.
Authorities believe it’s a possibility that the shooting may have been some sort of retaliation. No bond or initial appearances have been set. Law enforcement officials searched with metal detectors under crepe myrtle trees, looking for the shell from the handgun. But Guest did confirm that an informant who was related to the suspect was wounded in a shooting Saturday.
Before Monday, “he hadn’t been in any trouble or anything”, Canton police Chief Otha Brown said. No other details about that shooting were released.
Kendrick Armond Brown was supposed to appear in court Monday but died there in a courtyard.
The 32-year-old father of two was expected by prosecutors to reject a plea offer, Guest added.
A suspect has been arrested and is in custody in the county jail.
A law enforcement official says a man fatally shot a defendant waiting outside a Mississippi courthouse Monday morning.
“He fired the shot at the individual and was immediately approached by deputies here at the courthouse and laid the firearm down and peacefully was taken into custody”, said Madison County Sheriff Randy Tucker. But as he waited on the courthouse grounds with his attorney, a young man drove up, climbed out of the vehicle, and shot him once in the vest.
The homes are just southeast of Canton’s courthouse square.
Tucker and Madison County District Attorney Michael Guest say they do not know what the motive for the shooting was.
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Canton is the seat of Madison County, just north of Jackson. The courthouse is a few blocks north of Canton’s foremost sq. and historic district.
