Top Stories – Page 94 – The Mississippi Link

Teen charged with killing stepmother to stay in jail

A now 17-year-old Vicksburg teen has been denied bond in the shooting death of her stepmother three years ago.

Circuit Judge Isadore Patrick said Friday that Tyla Denise Vega would remain behind bars even after attorney Marshal Sanders said the court ordered mental evaluation on the teen had been completed.

Vega has remained in custody at the Warren County jail since December 2011 when her $75,000 bail was revoked by her bonding agent. […]

Humana to sell policies in unserved Miss. Counties

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All Mississippians will have at least one insurance option on the new federal online marketplace when it starts enrolling customers in October.
Humana, based in Louisville, Ky., announced Friday that it would cover people in the 36 Mississippi counties where no insurer had agreed to write policies.

Coverage under those policies begins Jan. 1.

“This builds on Humana’s current presence,” the company said in a statement. “By working together with local health care providers, we believe we can enhance quality of care and improve health outcomes in the state.” […]

No fatalities in plane crash landing in Tupelo

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The pilot of a Beechcraft Bonanza was slightly injured Saturday in a crash landing at the Tupelo Regional Airport Saturday afternoon.

Sarah Robinson, communications director for the City of Tupelo, says the plane came down just short of the runway. She says the pilot was the only one aboard.

Robinson says the plane had left Birmingham, Ala., headed to Tupelo.

The pilot suffered some lacerations and was taken to the North Mississippi Medical Center for treatment. […]

Lockheed-Martin remembers deadly shooting anniversary

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This month marks the 10th anniversary of the July 8, 2003 workplace shooting at the Lockheed Martin plant in Meridian, where Douglas Williams, 48 shot 14 co-workers, killing six of them before committing suicide.

The memory of that event is still fresh for investigators with the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office who responded to the call.

“We were living the nightmare all law enforcement agencies have,” Lauderdale County Sheriff Billy Sollie said. “Every year I relive this event. I can see the fleet of TV trucks that showed up from all over the nation. I can see the faces of the relatives of those who died. It isn’t a good memory.” […]

Sears store closing in Gautier

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The Sears and Sears Auto Center in Gautier will be closed for good in mid-October.

Howard Riefs, director of corporate communications with Sears Corporation, said in a press release received by The Sun Herald the store will begin a liquidation sale July 26.

Riefs says the 71 employees will have an opportunity to apply at other Sears and Kmart stores in the area.

He says store closures are part of a series of actions the company is taking to reduce ongoing expenses. […]

Jackson residents face arson charges

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Authorities said a weekend house fire in Jackson was intentionally set.

WAPT-TV reports that firefighters responded to the fire on Shady Circle on Sunday about 2 a.m.

Nobody was injured in the blaze. Authorities arrested 39-year-old Ernest Day and 19-year-old Hezekiah Beach.

The fire department said Day and Beach were taken to the Raymond Detention Center to await their initial court appearance on arson charges. […]

Police: Man claims assault after Zimmerman verdict

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Police are investigating claims that a man was assaulted in Senatobia, apparently in retaliation for the verdict in the George Zimmerman trial.

Police Chief Steve Holts says a man called police about 11 p.m. Sunday, saying he has out jogging when forced into a car and beaten after an assailant asked if he knew who Trayvon Martin was.

The victim – whom police aren’t naming – is white. He says his assailants were black. The victim says he was dropped off on a road about three miles north of Senatobia in rural Tate County. […]

FBI Jackson Hosts Public Safety Training

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The Jackson Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigations is facing their second day of their Active Shooter Executive Law Enforcement Conference in Starkville.

The conference, which began on Tuesday and will wrap up on Wednesday, July 17, is the second of at least three to be held in various locations in Mississippi.

The conference was developed pursuant to a 2013 White House training initiative and was designed to present local, tribal, federal, and state law enforcement partners with best crisis management practices and lessons learned in mass casualty/active shooter events. […]

Former officers sentenced for stealing govt. funds

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Two former law enforcement officers were sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Tom S. Lee for theft of government funds and property.

Zach Robinson, a former deputy with the Hinds County Sheriff’s Office, and Kent Daniels, a former Jackson Police officer and investigator for the Hinds County District Attorney’s Office, were each sentenced to 12 months in federal prison.

They were also ordered to pay joint restitution in the amount of $21,996. […]

Settlement reached in death of Mississippi player

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The family of a Mississippi football player who died following a workout in 2010 has reached a settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit against the university and the NCAA.

Bennie Abram III, a 20-year-old non-scholarship player from Southaven, collapsed during an offseason workout and later died at a hospital in Oxford. An autopsy determined Abram’s death was caused by complications from sickle cell trait, which can alter red blood cells after strenuous exercise.

According to settlement documents, the family will receive $50,000 from the insurance company for the university’s athletic foundation. The Abrams’ attorney, Gene Egdorf of Houston, Texas, says the family also will receive $275,000 from the NCAA’s insurance policy. […]