14 Responses to “A Death in Mississippi”

1. #1 |  Mike Leatherwood |  February 16th, 2009 at 1:44 pm

   Yes, it does. Suicide by shotgun is difficult, but not impossible (a’la Kurt Cobain). If this is a hunting shotgun, I am guessing waterfowl, the dang barrells are long, so even a shorter shotgun (26″) is difficult to place against the head or under the chin and reach the trigger, which he may have had to stretch a little bit moving the barrell off target….now, he may have panicked about having a weapon in the car and being pulled over, so he may have been trying to move it or secure it and it went off (trying to clear it our moving it foolishly in the cab), but either scenario should have peppered the interior of the cab with all sorts of shot, regrdless of load. Wish there was more info in the article.

2. #2 |  Bob |  February 16th, 2009 at 2:16 pm

   It’s perfectly legal to carry a shotgun around in your truck. They don’t magically materialize when you arrive at the location you intend to hunt at, you have to bring it with you.

   As such, any scenario where he ‘panics’ because he has a shotgun in his truck just doesn’t fly.

   Yeah, this looks pretty suspicious.

3. #3 |  Bob |  February 16th, 2009 at 2:55 pm

   From the article linked here:
   “There also are inconsistencies in authorities’ account, according to Jerome Carter, the attorney representing Johnson’s family. For example, photographs don’t reflect the trauma associated with a close-range blast from a 12-gauge shotgun, he said, because the only trauma to his head was behind his left ear. A shotgun likely would have caused more damage.”

   From the report by the Grand Jury:
   http://www.fanhouse.com/news/moresports/billie-joe-johnsons-death-ruled/341350

   “George County Sheriff Garry Welford said Thursday that his department’s investigation found that after Sullivan took the teen’s license and went back to his patrol car to check it, Johnson squatted down to move the shotgun from underneath the seat of his truck. He grabbed the barrel and the gun went off, said Welford, who did not know why the teen was trying to move the gun.”

   Ok, the guy was going to hunt deer. That implies a full length barrel 12 gauge with either 00 buckshot or a rifled slug. You don’t shoot someone in the head with that at point blank range without doing a ton of damage.

   So I’m to believe he shot himself behind the left ear with a shotgun he was trying to pull out from underneath his car seat? Then the shotgun opened the car door and threw him out before jumping on top of him and positioning itself so it pointed at his head?

   Oh! Forgot to mention that there was gunshot residue on the cops hands… the cop who pulled him over. The cop who provided all the eyewitness testimony of the actual shooting.

   That’s not suspicious at all!

4. #4 |  Stephen |  February 16th, 2009 at 3:22 pm

   Way suspicious. I bet the bullet/00 buckshot somehow ends up mysteriously missing.

   I have hunted. A shotgun would have basically taken his head off.

5. #5 |  Brandon Bowers |  February 16th, 2009 at 3:41 pm

   Yeah, all the evidence seems to point to this being a modern-day lynching. This article didn’t mention it, but the first article I saw about this also claimed that the girlfriend’s father was close friends with the murde, um, officer who pulled the kid over, and was unhappy about the kid dating his daughter.

6. #6 |  ceanf |  February 16th, 2009 at 4:23 pm

   sounds to me like the kid was shot in the back of the head by a handgun. a shotgun blast to the face from point blank range would not result in a small bullet hole behind his left ear, it would have torn his freaking face off, whether is was buckshot or a slug. then the fact that they found him out side of the car with the shotgun laying on top of him is even more suspicious. are we to believe that he shot him self in the face with a shotgun, while in the truck, and then somehow opened the door, fell out of the truck with the shotgun and ended up lying face up with the shotgun on his chest, yet with the only trauma was a small hole behind his left ear? those pigs in mississippi murdered this kid.

7. #7 |  Bob |  February 16th, 2009 at 5:17 pm

   Some more info in this article.

   http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slug=ys-johnson020509&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

   According to the one eyewitness (the cop who stopped him), the actual shooting took place outside the vehicle, the subject then fell to the ground and the gun he was holding (Likely a 12 gauge shotgun loaded with 3 inch magnum buckshot) fell on top of him. The body was on it’s back, with the head pointing away from the truck.

   According to the father, who got the truck back almost immediately, and has not cleaned it, there is wound material (brain matter, etc) inside the truck, and even some on the truck’s exterior.

   The truck itself is a Silverado extended cab, and Billey kept the shotgun under the seat in the back. There was absolutely no reason for him to get it, and if it HAD gone off and killed him (causing him to fall backwards as described), the blast detritus would be directed away from the truck, not into it.

   Additionally, there was a hole 3 to 4 inches in diameter in the driver’s side window. The window itself was later destroyed.

   The officer did not make radio contact until 05:39, after being on duty only 5 minutes, and that is supposedly AFTER watching him run a red light, then run a stop sign, then drive a mile and a half and park at the Carpet store. None of that was in the radio log… only the location he was stopped at.

   The murder took place at 05:40, with the officer conveniently on the radio in his car.

   At almost exactly the same time, the whole incident with the ex-girlfriend’s trailer was going down. Nothing was damaged or taken, no evidence left behind, just the girl’s word that he was there.

   The radio contact log is interesting:

   0534 10-8
   0539 BJSZ 10-39 Hwy 26 @ Benndale Carpet
   0339 Ended 10-15 @ 2116 Hwy 57. Subject Adv that is his mother’s residence
   0540 Subject shot self

   What does that mean? 10-8 is him going on duty. 10-39 means “Your message was delivered, the requested unit is enroute.”

   Yeah, this doesn’t look like a conspiracy to commit murder at all!

   The other officer is a marvel of investigative efficiency… after getting to the ex-girlfriend’s house at 05:40, it takes him only 10 minutes to clear up the case, get all the info from the ex-girlfriend and get the escort to the police station done. Good thing, too! Because that’s the exact time he needs to jet on over to the Carpet store to back up the deputy there. I guess he didn’t stop for a donut.

8. #8 |  Lorraine Sumrall |  February 16th, 2009 at 7:35 pm

   Everything in this case smells and every defense attorney I have talked with here in Mississippi thinks it smells, too. Nobody I have spoken to believes this boy shot himself with his own gun. No way. Nobody believes the cops would release the truck to the family the next day. That’s really crazy. This is a case that keeps me up at night.

9. #9 |  seeker6079 |  February 16th, 2009 at 8:36 pm

   “As such, any scenario where he ‘panics’ because he has a shotgun in his truck just doesn’t fly.”

   Black kid being pulled over by a white sheriff after being where he shouldn’t according to a white mom. Yeah, the kid should have been cool as a cucumber. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

10. #10 |  Helmut O' Hooligan |  February 16th, 2009 at 10:21 pm

    I concur with many of the previous commenters, particularly #6 “ceaf”. A close range gsw to the head w/ a shot gun would not leave a small wound behind the ear. Actually, it probably would have resulted in almost total destruction of the skull and evacuation of most of the brain. I am also very uncomfortable with the victim’s position and the part about the hole in the window.

    I work in a trauma center and have continuing education in crime scene analysis. I have seen shot gun wounds on multiple occasions. There is no way a contact wound caused by a shotgun would leave such a small wound. Who do these guys think there fooling?

11. #11 |  Michael |  February 16th, 2009 at 11:42 pm

    A rifled slug might leave a small wound. But, it was reported that it was buckshot. I lived next door to a guy who, had previously, tried to kill himself with a shotgun. He had massive plastic reconstruction on his face because it blew off his jaw and made mush of his face, all the way up to his forehead. That is what happens when one tries to shoot himself in the mouth, with a long gun.

    Were x-rays done on this young man? Was the lead shot identified? Even just one or two? Where is the autopsy material? Was it, just, thrown away , too?

    This continues to sound real suspicious! And, the window out of the truck broken out? When? By who? That is just plain crazy. Why would the dad let that happen? Then I would wonder what would motivate the dad to let this window be lost. Was it gone before it made it back to dad’s house? There seem to be, too many, unanswered questions and loose ends. That is for sure!

12. #12 |  Zargon |  February 17th, 2009 at 1:17 am

    Jesus, even with all the evidence they managed to destroy, it’s still plainly obvious the cop’s story doesn’t fit what evidence is left. I mean, comon. It’s not even close. There would be pellets in his head and in the car if the shotgun was fired. Mentioning neither means none were found, which means his shotgun wasn’t fired. And that’s only one of many obvious problems.

    Even with the evidence that remains, unless there’s a real game-breaker, like the ex-gf coming forward with a story about how she was pressured into making up the charges, or something of similar magnitude, the cop won’t be looking at anything more serious than the loss of his job. The police, at best, won’t investigate very hard and at worst, destroy evidence (which it seems they’ve done some of already, deliberately or not). The prosecutors will drag their feet and certainly not press to hold the guy without bail, if it even comes to that, and possibly make deliberate errors if it goes as far as a trial.

    Good thing we’ve got a benevolent state to protect us from evil people. Oh wait, it’ll probably be the other way around. As usual.

13. #13 |  Bob |  February 17th, 2009 at 11:49 am

    The suspicious nature of the available facts (Those not up to in interpretation, like the placement of the body and the release of the vehicle) alone point to foul play. It’s unfortunate that the police, who have a long record of protecting their own, are the sole investigators here. It looks like the first instinct of all involved was “Gather evidence that supports the Deputy, quickly dispose of all else”.

    Let’s go somewhere else. Conspiracy theory! Now, I’m not big on conspiracy theories… but this sure smacks of collusion. Let’s mix the logs together to form a timeline, the 4 principals are Deputy Sullivan, Sgt. O’neal, The girl (referred to as daughter) who Billiey Joe had some kind or relationship with, and her mother. And of course, Billey Joe himself.

    First: Assumptions. I assume that the log entries are honest, as there is little reason that the dispach crew is ‘in on it’ from the beginning, and that the time stamps are accurate.

    Into the rabbit hole!

    05:34 Sullivan goes on duty.
    05:37 mother calls cops, reports that someone was breaking into daughter’s house.
    05:39 Sullivan stops Billey Joe at the Carpet Shop on multiple violations.
    05:40 Billey Joe is killed.
    05:40 O’Neil arrives at daughter’s house.
    05:41 O’Neil has already interviewed the daughter, knows who was there, where he parked, when he left.
    05:48 O’Neil wraps it up, sends the daughter to the station with another unit for statement.
    05:48 O’Neil is advised Billey Joe has shot himself.
    05:50 O’Neil is at Bendale Carpets.

    Wow! That’s astonishing! In the space of 16 minutes, it not only all goes down, but is reported as if it was being done in a leisurely manner. Cops don’t just respond to a reported attempted break in, then in seconds have all the facts all clean as you please! This takes time!

    And how about that response time! 3 minutes between getting the call with the break in info to responding, then having all the info one minute later. I couldn’t write all that down in that time, much less have to drive there, control the scene, get statements from people, etc.

    As such, I think my assumption that the log is legit is false. I think the logs were fabricated to provide a circumstantial evidence trail making Billey Joe look suicidal.

14. #14 |  markm |  February 20th, 2009 at 12:22 am

    Yet another case for putting video cameras in police cars.

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