Man murdered over 2 cigarettes

Mark Haney Jr.

By Monica Land

INDIANOLA – Police Chief Richard O’Bannon said a local man has yet to have his preliminary hearing after he allegedly shot and killed a man over two broken cigarettes.

Mark Haney Jr.

O’Bannon said 20-year-old Mark Haney Jr. is being held without bond for the Dec. 15, 2012 murder of 26-year-old Lonnie Brooks.

O’Bannon said the altercation between Haney and Brooks began around 10:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the Royal Ridge Apartments on Gillespie Drive in Indianola.

“My understanding from Haney’s statement was that Brooks confronted him after Haney had broken a couple of Brooks’s cigarettes. And Brooks grabbed Haney demanding money for the cigarettes he had broken.”

O’Bannon said as the argument escalated, Haney allegedly pulled a gun.

“When Brooks grabbed him, Haney told him to ‘back off and if you don’t, I got something for you if you grab me again,’” O’Bannon said. “He had a gun and he shot him three times.”

O’Bannon said Haney allegedly shot Brooks twice in the body and once in the head.

Brooks was pronounced dead at the scene.

O’Bannon said the 9mm weapon Haney allegedly used in the crime has not been recovered and that Haney and Brooks were acquaintances.

“They were friends,” O’Bannon said. “Brooks lived in the apartment complex and Haney lived a few blocks away. They were friends. But like so many other homicides, it was the result of something silly.”

O’Bannon said Haney fled the scene after the shooting and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He turned himself in to authorities and was charged with murder.

The judge did not set a bond amount and he remains in police custody.

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