Missouri woman dies in multi-car accident on Tallahatchie bridge

News Briefs From Across The State

One car was knocked off the bridge

A 40-year-old woman from Gerald, Missouri was killed Saturday morning when she and two others were hit by an out of control vehicle. Authorities said Wendi Dawne Cannon was driving eastbound on Highway 78 in New Albany when a sports utility vehicle heading west lost control and crossed the median.

The driver then hit Cannon and two other cars.

The accident occurred around 11 a.m. on the Tallahatchie River bridge where some of the lanes had been closed due to roadwork, WTVA reported.

A trailer behind Cannon’s SUV was knocked off the bridge on impact and landed on the riverbank.

Five people were transported to Baptist Memorial with non-life-threatening injuries. The accident remains under investigation.

Child, rescued from Waveland fire, dies

A 3-year-old boy who was injured Wednesday, April 11, in a house fire in Waveland has died from his injuries.

Police Chief Kenny Hurt tells The Sun Herald that the child died Thursday at Children’s Hospital in New Orleans.

Hurt says two men in the home had escaped the fire before law enforcement and firefighters arrived shortly after 8 a.m. He says another child had already gone to school.

The victim’s name has not been released.

Police in Hattiesburg investigate death

Hattiesburg police are investigating after a body was found in woods near two retail stores – a Walmart and a Dollar Tree, near U.S. Highway 49.

The Hattiesburg American reports that the body was found Saturday and police were on the scene with the fire department and the coroner’s office.

Leland gets new police chief

Leon Hicks is the new police chief in the town of Leland. Hicks, a lieutenant in the police department, was named last week by the board of aldermen. Hicks has worked for the police department for 18 years.

Hicks succeeds Oscar McAdory, who died March 29 of cancer. McAdory was 59.

Hicks had been acting chief during McAdory’s leave of absence.

2 facing illegal gator hunting charges

Two people accused of illegally hunting alligators will be in Rankin County Justice Court on May 1.

Lt. Randy Newell, a wildlife officer with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, said the two were arrested March 23 for hunting alligators without a permit. The two have not been identified.

Newell says if convicted, the hunters face fines up to $5,000 and mandatory jail time of five days.

Newell says wildlife officers were notified that the men were hunting alligators with high-powered weapons and had set line hooks, baited with chicken. They were hunting in Rankin County.

Alligator hunting in Mississippi is by special permit only, and typically takes place during September. A mandatory alligator hunting training course is required of all persons receiving alligator hunting permits.

Man loses appeal on parole revocation

The state Court of Appeals has denied a Tishomingo County man’s efforts to have his parole revocation thrown out.

WTVA reports that Jay McCalpin was out of parole after serving a three-year sentence for sexual battery when he was arrested on a felony stalking charge by Belmont police.

A complaint filed in 2009 claimed McCalpin followed a teenager into the parking lot of a Belmont business and blocked her car where she couldn’t get out. The complaint says McCalpin sat in his vehicle staring at the girl until a man inside the business came outside and he drove away.

McCalpin was ordered back to prison following a parole revocation hearing.

The Appeals Court rejected McCalpin’s argument that the state failed to prove he had committed a crime.

Holly Springs fires police chief

The city of Holly Springs is looking for a new police chief after aldermen fired James Dean earlier this month.

Mayor Andre DeBerry tells the South Reporter that because Dean worked at will and the pleasure of the board and the board does not have to give cause for firing. He says a 90-day probationary period was still in place at the time Dean was fired.

DeBerry says officer complaints were a factor but not the only reason the board. He says Dean’s performance was another matter.

Dean was hired in January. He had served as chief of police in two towns in Missouri and worked for sheriff’s departments in that state.

Officer John Norman was named interim chief.

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