News Briefs From Across The State
Sheriff, family and friends headed to Gator Bowl
Lee County Sheriff Jim Johnson said he’s glad to be alive after being involved in a New Year’s Eve crash that killed two Alabama residents. On Friday, Dec. 31, Johnson, his family and some friends were traveling southbound on U.S. Highway 231 headed to the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida, in a 2006 Prevost Celeb Bus.
About 6:45 p.m., the bus, driven by 63-year old Gene Mangum, of Tupelo, crashed into a 2001 Chevy S-10 driven by Marsha Diana Morris, 27, when she pulled in front of him.
Alabama Highway Patrol said Morris was exiting Holiday fireworks when she pulled into the direct path of the bus. Her passenger, 24-year old Richard Lamar Henderson, of Cowarts, was not wearing a seatbelt and was thrown from the truck.
Morris and Henderson were both pronounced dead at the scene.
None of the passengers in Johnson’s vehicle were seriously injured.
Bay St. Louis woman killed in crash
A 21-year old woman was killed in Harrison County Saturday when her car hit a curb and flipped over several times. Samantha Kassab was traveling on U.S. Highway 90 on Jan. 1, when she struck the curb. She reportedly lost control and flipped over coming to a final rest on the beach.
The Associated Press reported that Kassab was pronounced dead at Hancock Medical Center and her unidentified passenger remains in stable condition at the same hospital.
The accident remains under investigation.
Former Shelby officer sentenced in arson case
A former Shelby police officer has been sentenced for setting two cars, belonging to two Shelby aldermen, on fire. Barry Smith, 37, plead guilty to charges that he and another officer, Ronnie Walters, 45, recruited another man to set the cars on fire.
Smith was sentenced to five years probation and nearly $6,000 in restitution for his role in the 2009 incident.
Walters also plead guilty and has yet to be sentenced. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
Court records show that in July 2009, Walters solicited Michael Guyton to set the cars of Shelby Aldermen Harold Billings and Dan Harris on fire. Smith provided Guyton with the gasoline. Walters then drove Guyton around, in his police car, and showed him the location of Billings’ truck and Harris’ vehicle.
Guyton and two other accomplices returned later and threw gasoline on the vehicles and lit them on fire.
Guyton has plead not guilty to arson and his trial has been postponed.
Authorities said the motive in the case may have been the board’s decision to terminate several Shelby police officers.
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