Second arrest made in West Point restaurant fight, bail set at $250,000

Ralph Weems (Facebook)
Ralph Weems (Facebook)
Ralph Weems (Facebook)

WEST POINT, Mississippi (AP) — Bond has been set at $250,000 for a second man booked with aggravated assault in an incident that hospitalized a 32-year-old man, West Point Police Chief Tim Brinkley said.

Marquavious McMillian, 20, of Aberdeen, was arrested and charged Thursday, two days after the same charge was brought against Courtez McMillian, 22, of Okolona, in the beating of Ralph Weems IV in the parking lot of a restaurant.

Brinkley won’t say whether the two are related.

Aberdeen is about 15 miles north-northeast of West Point and in neighboring Monroe County, where Brinkley has said most of the people on a list of possible suspects are from.

Weems remains in fair condition, said Marsha Tapscott, a spokeswoman for North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo.

“I don’t know where they got fair condition from,” said Bradley Barnes, Weems’ brother-in-law, of Madison. He said Weems has been taken off of a ventilator but remains unresponsive. “The doctors are hopeful,” he said.

David Knighten of West Point has said he and Weems apparently were followed early Saturday from one restaurant where Weems argued with some African-American patrons to another where Weems was beaten.

Brinkley has said police are investigating whether the men were followed.