By Errol Castens

Daily Journal Oxford Bureau

Oxford and Lafayette County authorities are continuing their joint investigation into Monday’s apparent murder-suicide.

The deceased were identified as Sharon Pegues Orange, 50, of 30 C.R. 215, Oxford, and Michael Vernon Orange, 53, of 307 C.R. 105, Oxford. Sharon Pegues Orange was the estranged wife of Michael Vernon Orange; authorities have not determined if the couple was legally divorced.

Sharon Orange was arriving to begin her shift as a caregiver for the residential owner on St. Andrews Circle in Oxford. The resident called 911 after hearing a loud noise and seeing that Ms. Orange was sitting in the driver’s seat and appeared unresponsive. Once EMS and Oxford police arrived, they determined that Sharon Orange was a victim of gunshot wounds.

During the initial investigation of Sharon Orange’s death, officers on scene were notified of an apparent suicide outside the city that seemed to have occurred within the same time frame.

Michael Vernon Orange was found dead at that scene on County Road 105 of a single gunshot wound to the head, said Lafayette County Coroner Rocky Kennedy.

All of the evidence collected at the scene of the incident on St. Andrews Circle has been documented and submitted to the State Crime Lab for analysis, at which time a final determination will be made as to the cause of death.

The incident is still considered an ongoing investigation.

Oxford Citizen

The Lafayette County Sheriff’s Department arrested Timothy Stanford, 43, on Monday, charging him with one count of armed robbery and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon.

Sheriff’s Investigator Alan Wilburn said Stanford is from in Chicago but had recently been living in Lafayette County. The arrest stemmed from a complaint filed by a County Road 108 resident stating that the alleged victim had stopped late on Oct. 9 to offer help to a hitchhiker, who then robbed the person at gunpoint.

Wilburn said investigators were able to link Stanford to the robbery, and a warrant was issued for his arrest, which was made without incident. Bond has not been set.

By William Moore

Daily Journal

FULTON – The Mississippi Highway Patrol is still investigating a Friday afternoon crash in Itawamba County that claimed the life of a Florida woman.

At 5:20 p.m. Oct. 10, troopers responded to US 78 east of Fulton, about one mile west on State Highway 25.

The preliminary investigation showed that Janay B. Douglas, 22, of Lake Panasoffkee, Fla., was traveling west when she apparently lost control of her vehicle. The 2000 Hyundai Elantra left the roadway and collided into a tree. She was not wearing a seat belt.

Douglas was transported to North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo, where she died Monday from injuries sustained in the crash. According to the report from the investigating trooper, rain and high winds contributed to the crash.

MULLINS

By William Moore

Daily Journal

WEST POINT – A Starkville man, 18, is facing the death penalty in connection with the death of a 2-month-old child.

Clay County Sheriff Eddie Scott said emergency responders were called to 9630 Griffith Road in the western part of the county on Oct. 8. Iriana Mullins was airlifted to the University Medical Center in Jackson. She was removed from the ventilator on Friday and died early this week. Medical reports cite blunt force trauma as the cause of death.

Charles T. Mullins, of 734 New Light Road, Starkville, was arrested Oct. 9 and was initially charged with child abuse. Clay County investigators upgraded the charge to capital murder Tuesday afternoon.

During his arraignment in Clay County Justice Court, bond was denied. Mullins is being held in the Clay County Detention Center.

By William Moore

Daily Journal

OXFORD – The federal trial of a man accused of killing two motorcyclists on the Natchez Trace Parkway in August has been postponed until December.

Donnie William Sartain, 50, of Tishomingo, was originally scheduled to go to trial on charges DUI-manslaughter on Oct. 20. Ongoing settlement discussion prompted U.S. District Judge Michael Mills this week to order a continuance until Dec. 15.

According to court documents, Sartain was allegedly under the influence of alcohol on Aug. 6 when the pickup he was driving near mile marker 289 in Prentiss County drifted into the oncoming lane and struck a motorcycle, killing Pauline Demers, 56, and Gerard Nault, 56, of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada.

By William Moore

Daily Journal

TUPELO – If you’re currently winding through the court system after being charged with a DUI, the odds are pretty good your case will be delayed a month or two.

Changes to the state DUI law went into effect Oct. 1, but it will be next month before it is applied, and until then, some cases are being postponed.

Court clerks, judges and prosecutors all have questions about the new law that allows the use of automobile ignition interlock systems as well as allows first-time driving under the influence offenders to have the conviction removed from their permanent record.

“The procedures and process have not been fully implemented,” said Dennis Voge, who serves at Lee County Justice Court interim judge as well as the city judge for Saltillo. “The only way to handle it is to reschedule until January.

“These pending cases will certainly not be dismissed. The people will have their day in court, it will just take a little longer.”

According to Grace Craig with the Secretary of State’s office, the rules and procedures were proposed by the Department of Public Safety on Sept. 10 and the final version was filed Oct. 10. State law requires a 30-day waiting period, so the rules will not go into effect until Nov. 9.

Lee County prosecuting attorney James Moore said the courts still have not been provided with a list of state-approved vendors. Once the new law is in full effect, he expects plenty of people to take advantage of the new law.

“If convicted of a first offense DUI, you can avoid having your driver’s license suspended by getting an ignition interlock on your vehicle for the next 90 days,” said Moore. “Under the old law, the license would be suspended.”

For an additional fee and more time with the interlock, a first-time offender can have the DUI removed from their record. To have the case nonadjudicated, the person must comply with the normal court orders, have the interlock on their car for 120 days and not have any violations of the interlock. There is an additional $250 fee for nonadjudication.

The Tint Shop on South Gloster in Tupelo has been certified to install the interlock systems. The systems cost about $130 per month and can be installed in most cars in less than 90 minutes. Units with cameras take a little longer and the monthly lease is a little more. The cameras take a picture of whoever is blowing to make sure it is the offender each time.

“It usually takes longer to train the person how to use it than to install it,” said Tint Shop owner Gene Byars. “You have to blow and hum at the same time. It took me five times to pass and I don’t even drink.

“It’s designed to make sure a kid isn’t doing it. You have to blow hard and humming at the same time is hard to do.”

The interlocks are precision calibrated. Any presence of alcohol will prevent the car from starting. There are also random tests once the car is started. If the driver fails, the car will not restart when it is turned off.

“The units also have to be recalibrated every 30 days,” said Byars. “If you don’t, it starts a 72-hour countdown. At the end of the 72 hours, the car is immobilized.”

william.moore@journalinc.com

By William Moore

Daily Journal

OXFORD – A Plantersville man was sentenced Wednesday to 12 months in prison for aiding and abetting the passing of counterfeit money.

Robert Blake Kohlheim, 27, pleaded guilty in June in federal court. In addition to the prison time, Kohlheim was sentenced to three years probation, a $100 fine and $325 in restitution. Kohlheim must report to the Bureau of Prisons by Jan. 5, 2015.

Kohlheim was arrested with two others last December for passing fake currency at a Dollar General Store in east Tupelo. Darla Lynette Frison, 38, of Tupelo, was an employee of the business, and she pleaded guilty to the charge of conspiracy to pass counterfeit money in June. In September, Kevin Tenyarn Clark, 38, of Tupelo pleaded guilty to the charge of conspiracy to pass counterfeit money.

The sentencing for Frison and Clark have not been set.

PICKLE

Monroe Journal

NETTLETON – The Monroe County Sheriff’s Department Narcotics Unit arrested Emory Pickle, 36, of Nettleton on Thursday.

Pickle is charged with possession of meth.

Bond has not been set a the time of this release. Pickle is currently being housed at Monroe County Detention Center.

BROOKHAVEN (AP) – A Brookhaven man has been denied bond on charges related to a fatal accident in which two high school football players died.

Prosecutors say 18-year-old Charles Acy is charged with two counts of vehicular homicide in the deaths of Shaquan Richardson and Javonta Dickey.

The Daily Leader reports Acy made an initial court appearance Thursday. He is represented by a public defender. No trial date has been set.

Authorities say Acy’s Hummer collided head-on Tuesday with a Ford F-150 in which two players were riding.

Richardson and Dickey, both 18 and seniors at Brookhaven, had just left a softball game when the accident occurred.

Acy is being held in the Lincoln County jail.

If convicted of vehicular homicide, Acy could be sentenced to a maximum of 25 years.

By Lena Mitchell

Daily Journal Corinth Bureau

CORINTH – A man who has been held in Alcorn County Jail since July on felony fleeing and auto theft charges is expected to be extradited to Lauderdale County, Alabama, to face charges in an April murder.

Joshua Lynn Balentine, 29, of County Road 511, Florence, Alabama, had been a suspect in the death of Royce Varnell, 62, of County Road 511, Florence, Alabama, since Varnell was found dead inside his home on April 7, according to information reported by Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Chief Investigator Travis Clemmons, the TimesDaily newspaper reports. The two men lived across the street from each other.

Balentine was arrested on July 1, after he stole a 1969 Corvette from The Hot Rod Shop on U.S. Highway 72 in Corinth and fled in a high-speed chase into Burnsville in Tishomingo County, where he crashed and was arrested.

Balentine was transferred from Tishomingo County to Alcorn County Jail.

Balentine reportedly gave a note to a jailer Thursday that he wanted to confess to a homicide, and the two Lauderdale County investigators returned to Corinth to interview him again.

Balentine then told investigators that he and Varnell, who was disabled and confined to a wheelchair, had argued and that he had beaten Varnell to death with a hammer.

Varnell’s body was discovered in his home several hours later when a friend was unable to reach him and called 911.

Balentine remains in Alcorn County Jail awaiting extradition.

lena.mitchell@journalinc.com

SYKES

Daily Journal

VERONA – It took less than a week for the Verona Police Department to arrest the main suspect in an Oct. 12 armed robbery.

Verona Police Chief Andy Anderson said the Super C Tobacco Store at 5030 Raymond Ave. was robbed, and the suspect, Willie Sykes, 46, of Tupelo, was charged Friday with armed robbery. During his arraignment Friday in Lee County Justice Court, bond was set at $100,000.

The case will be presented to the next grand jury. Anderson said residents’ calls and tips helped with the arrest.

By Robbie Ward

Daily Journal

TUPELO – The Lee County Board of Supervisors agreed Friday to partner with a Charleston-based consulting firm to assist with potential creation of an up to 800-bed regional correctional facility.

Lee County supervisors approved the contract with Magnolia Correctional Services by a 4-1 vote. Supervisor Tommie Lee Ivy dissented.

Supervisors did not discuss the action prior to the vote but most have planned to proceed with plans to pursue creation of a new Lee County Sheriff’s Department and Correctional Facility.

The contract allows the company and county to partner for three years and pay the company up to $180,000. However, the contract can end much sooner if the project falls flat.

Lee County Sheriff Jim Johnson has pushed for a new jail and administration facility for more than a decade, saying the current facility built in 1997 never met county needs.

“They didn’t build it big enough to begin with,” Johnson said after the meeting. “The day we moved in it, we had three more inmates than we had room for.”

It holds up to 202 prisoners.

Johnson and the board have an ambitious project with an uncertain price tag; however, the sheriff wants taxpayers throughout the state to cover costs for the facility.

He said members of the area’s state delegation have agreed to file bills in the upcoming legislative session to designate the proposed jail as a regional correctional facility, allowing state inmates to serve time at the anticipated facility. Johnson also plans to seek federal accreditation required to hold federal inmates.

Magnolia Correctional Services’ contract agrees to assist the county with securing a regional jail, create a proposed budget and many other steps necessary for the project to succeed.

The board will pay the contract, if fully completed, in four parts, each payout after a project milestone.

If state lawmakers balk at designating the proposed facility to keep state inmates, Johnson said the need for a larger facility still remains.

“We’re going to have to build it,” he said.

robbie.ward@journalinc.com

Daily Journal

An Olive Branch teenager died and another person was badly injured in a two-vehicle crash Friday night.

The Mississippi Highway Patrol was dispatched to Highway 6 in Pontotoc County at 10:51 p.m. in response to a head-on collision near Thaxton. According to MHP, it appeared that Luke C. Phillips, 19, of Olive Branch, was traveling east in the west-bound lanes of Highway 6 when his Nissan ELS collided head-on with a Mazda MPV driven by Lloyd Nellams, 43, of Hampton, Virginia.

Phillips died at the scene, while Nellams was airlifted to North Mississippi Medical Center with life-threatening injuries. The accident remains under investigation.

By Errol Castens

Daily Journal

BOONEVILLE – A shooting on County Road 8051 just outside of Booneville early Sunday afternoon left one person hospitalized and another in jail.

Sheriff Randy Tolar, who was out of state when the incident happened shortly before 1 p.m., said one as-yet-unidentified person was arrested but had not been formally charged as of Sunday night. Charges are expected to be filed Monday.

Tolar said the victim, whose name also was not released, was believed to have suffered two gunshot wounds from a small-caliber pistol and was airlifted to North Mississippi Medical Center. The victim’s condition was unknown.

Tolar said that while the incident is still under investigation, he expects to release more details Monday.

Monroe Journal

AMORY – Two people have been charged with retaliation against a witness.

The Amory Police Department arrested Secresha Lana Elliott, 23, and Rycardo Kentrell Morgan, 23, both of Amory. According to reports filed by the APD, the incident in question happened Oct. 13 on F Avenue.

Bond for both subjects was set at $5,000.

By Errol Castens

Daily Journal Oxford Bureau

OXFORD – Oxford Police Deputy Chief James Owens said the department is investigating two similar robberies that occurred on Saturday between 10:30 and 11 p.m.

One victim reported being struck in the head from behind and having his wallet taken near FNB Bank on North Lamar. A second victim reported being pushed down by four or five males who then took his wallet, behind the Lyric along Harrison Avenue.

OPD is also investigating several sexual assaults reported over the weekend. The first victim reported on Saturday that she was assaulted while staying at a friend’s home. In a second report, an international student said she was sexually assaulted around Sept. 13 by three males she met along University Avenue.

On Sunday two women reported having accepted an invitation by six miles to a residence, the location of which they did not know, and being assaulted by the males there.

By Lena Mitchell

Daily Journal Corinth Bureau

CORINTH – A Corinth man charged in the deaths of two brothers found in their burned home has pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and other charges and was sentenced today to two life sentences.

Sirdon Greer, 28, pleaded guilty in the Feb. 13, deaths of James Copeland, 67, and Jerry Copeland, 64, who shared a home on Second Street in Corinth. Their bodies were found after a fire destroyed the residence, and they were both found to have been shot in the head before the house was set on fire.

Circuit Judge Jim Pounds sentenced Greer in Alcorn County Circuit Court on Monday.

“Both the Alcorn County Sheriff’s Department and the Corinth Police Department did a good job that resulted in the plea,” said District Attorney Trent Kelly after the sentences were handed down.

In addition to the two life sentences on the two murder charges, Greer was sentenced to 20 years on the arson charge, with 10 years suspended, to be served after the life sentences, said assistant district attorney Richard Bowen. He also was sentenced to two five-year terms for larceny and jail escape, to be served concurrently with the life sentences; court costs; $3,000 restitution to the estate of James Copeland for funeral expenses; and $590 restitution to Mississippi Crime Victims Compensation Fund.

“He won’t be eligible for parole until he’s 70 years old,” Bowen said.

Greer’s bond was set at $1.2 million in March on the two murder charges and the arson charge, but he remained in jail after not making bond.

On June 22, Greer and another inmate escaped from the jail, but both were back in custody within six hours.

lena.mitchell@journalinc.com

MYERS

Monroe Journal

A Hamilton man faces a controlled substance charge.

The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office arrested Robert Tyler Myers, 31, on Saturday. The arrest was the result of a traffic stop on Cockerham Road.

Myers is charged with felony possession of a controlled substance. Bond has not been set, and Myers is still in custody at Monroe County Detention Center.

Daily Journal

A man died in a one-vehicle accident on the Natchez Trace on Saturday.

U.S. Park Rangers and Webster County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to the scene near milepost 211, where a Honda Accord driven by Deep Bharucha, 26, of Ackerman, had left the road.

Preliminary information indicates that Bharucha’s car, which was traveling south, left the roadway, struck a culvert and flipped. Bharucha, the vehicle’s only occupant, was ejected from the vehicle and declared dead at the scene.

SENTER

By Lena Mitchell

Daily Journal Corinth Bureau

BOONEVILLE – Bond was set for a Booneville man Monday who was charged with aggravated assault in a Sunday shooting in Prentiss County.

Jimmy Senter, 22, is being held in Prentiss County Jail on a $100,000 bond, said Sheriff Randy Tolar.

The victim, Tim Reed, suffered two gunshot wounds from a small-caliber pistol at his County Road 8051 home some time before 1 p.m. and was transported to North Mississippi Medical Center.

Reed and Senter’s mother lived together, the sheriff said, and it appears the two men got into an altercation when Senter and his father went to the C.R. 8051 residence.

The case remains under investigation, Tolar said.