Jackson Advocate
of a new jail in the Black com-
Epps
Epps was appointed commis-
sioner by former Gov. Ronnie
Musgrove in 202 and is the
longest serving department
head in Mississippi state gov-
ernment.
Jackson County Branch
NAACP President Curley
Clarke said his organization
was sensitive to the Scott Sis-
ters’ case. But the local branch
NAACP sought to engage Epps
in a dialogue over the building
Murder
Lonie had perceived as a swollen
mouth and face when she first
came on the scene and saw her
brother, who was then in the cus-
tody of the sheriff’s deputies.
Holmes said Monday, after his
release from jail, that either one
or two deputies had jerked him
off the couch and slammed him
face down on the floor. He felt his
teeth aching and could see the
blood pooling under him as he
lay on the floor with the officers
on top of him, he said.
His sister, Lakeshia, thought
that the deputies had roughed her
brother up by beating him while
holding him down. Holmes,
however, said the arresting offi-
cers never beat him, but that they
had slammed him to the floor
Tornado
phone. Knowing she was all
right meant everything,” said
James. “When I did see the de-
struction, I wouldn’t have
wanted to see it any earlier. It
was all gone!” The James fam-
ily is among 700 homeowners
who suffered damages. The
fierce tornadoes also downed
trees, closing several major
roadways and highways, and
left thousands of residents
without power.
The storm is over but local,
state and federal officials con-
Jackson, Mississippi
pressure to build a new jail to
munity in Moss Point.
“We don’t want the black
community in other parts of the
state to feel that their causes are
being totally disregarded,”
Clark said in a telephone inter-
view Monday. “ But we’ve got
a serious issue here. And we
want to get into Mr. Epps’ ear,
too.”
Clark has been president of
the Jackson County NAACP
branch for 20 years and says
that the Jackson County Board
of Supervisors were under
after pulling him up from the
couch.
Holmes said he saw Penning-
ton standing to the side inside the
trailer while he lay on the floor.
And when he was led outside into
the back yard, Pennington was
standing under a large tree there
and said simply, “I’m Sheriff
Ronnie Pennington. Sir, what’s
going on? What did he (McGee)
tell you? What did y’all talk
about?”
Holmes said he was worried
about his four kids and didn’t
want them to see all of what was
happening to him.
He was completely shattered
when the deputies said they were
taking him in as an accessory to
murder. At the jail, he was given
jailhouse garb and was placed in
isolation. No phone calls. No con-
tact with anyone. Sheriff’s orders.
tinue to survey the damage
wrought by the series of
deadly tornadoes which hit
several Mississippi counties
on April 24, claiming 10 lives.
Several agencies, including
Mississippi Emergency Man-
agement, Red Cross and Sal-
vation Army, have been in the
ravaged areas since Saturday.
Gov. Barbour received condo-
lences from governors across
the country, as well as from
President Obama and mem-
bers of congress.
Congressman Bennie
Thompson (D-MS) assessed
the damage from above via hel-
black community across the
replace the overcrowded facil-
ity in Pascagoula. Plans were
developed for a site outside of
Pascagoula after residents
there successfully sued to
block a new jail near the exist-
ing one. In recent years, a num-
ber of jail inmates were
viciously beaten by sheriff’s
deputies and prison guards,
and at least one died of blunt
force trauma. A massive, new
jailhouse is being built in
downtown Moss Point, Clark
says. But the location in the
Pennington said in the phone
conversation with the Jackson
Advocate Monday that he had or-
dered Holmes to be held on the
disorderly conduct and resisting
arrest charges after McGee exon-
erated Holmes of any possible
connection with the Barrett homi-
cide.
“But I was worried about mak-
ing sure we didn’t release him be-
fore getting a final report on the
narcotics,” Pennington said. Al-
though none of his deputies could
produce any evidence of nar-
cotics in the Holmes household,
Pennington said that “someone
reported seeing a bag of a white
substance there. So I asked the
Highway Patrol to find if there
were any drugs.”
Holmes says that at the time
the deputies held him down he
had heard someone say they had
icopter. “The degree to which
this storm has devastated these
areas is extraordinary. The level
of damage caused and the
range to which it was able to
extend are indicators of the
awesome magnitude of this
storm,” said Thompson. “The
damage caused to these citi-
zens’ personal property cannot
begin to compare to the emo-
tional ruin they have to contend
with in the aftermath. Some
who have lived here for gener-
ations have lost everything and
I have requested an expeditious
assessment by FEMA teams,”
he said.
of concern to the people in
street from a church and a
playground where mostly
black kids are present has
brought widespread com-
plaints against the jail site.
The county jail will contain
holding cells for state prisoners
also, Clark said. Residents of
Moss Point and the surround-
ing communities want to
“lobby” Epps to relocate the
jail, Clark added.
Evelyn Rasco, mother of
Jamie and Gladys Scott said
that she understood the issues
found some crack cocaine, as
they held up a small number of
Tylenol Pain tablets wrapped in
Saran Wrap that he kept in a
vase.
“That white stuff in that bag
that they had and crunched it up,
that was Tylenol or whatever they
gave me when I was locked up
from January 1, 2010, to Feb. 9
2010,” Holmes said. “Those were
pills I actually got from their
medical ward for a toothache and
pain. I brought them home with
me from the jail just in case there
was pain and I would just pop
one of the pills. I hope to make it
clear it was their pills and their
drugs and that there were no ille-
gal drugs. And I hope they didn’t
plant any drugs in the bathroom
or anyplace.”
(Even the January 1 arrest of
Holmes was spurious. Ques-
Mississippians throughout
the state are lending a helping
hand to storm victims. Lo-
cally, Hinds County Board of
Supervisors has partnered
with the City of Jackson to
establish a donation site for
affected residents in Holmes
County at Fire Station #28 at
611 Terry Road “In this time
of tragedy and despair, it is
our humanitarian duty to an-
swer our neighbors in Holmes
County with consoling arms
and gestures of kindness and
empathy,” said Jackson
Mayor Harvey Johnson.
Twenty corps members from
April 29-May 5, 2010
no personal animosity against
Jackson County. “I don’t have
anything against them inviting
Mr. Epps to speak about issues
that concern them in the Jack-
son County area. My support-
ers felt that they were honoring
Epps. And they have questions
about why the NAACP won’t
step in and help my daughters.
It’s going on 16 years that my
daughters have been locked up
and I won’t give up on getting
them out of Mississippi’s
prison.”
Mrs. Rasco said that she has
tioned during a night of New
Year’s revelry, Holmes was ar-
rested for allegedly giving false
information to a law officer
when he told the policeman his
name was “Shun,” the name
everyone calls him, rather than
“Peter” Holmes. Now, he has to
report to court on May 5 on that
charge.)
Richard Barrett, Mississippi’s
most notorious self-proclaimed
white supremacist over the last
two decades, was found bludg-
eoned, stabbed and burned to
death in his house at 227 East
Petrol Road a few miles southeast
of the city limits of Pearl around.
Holmes’ residence, a trailer
home, is about 10 miles to the
north and slightly east, inside
Pearl’s city limits. McGee had
come to the house earlier in the
day, within hours of the same
the AmeriCorps National
Civilian Community Corps in
Vicksburg made haste to
Yazoo City to provide disas-
ter relief and assistance. “Our
Corps is trained and ready to
respond quickly to disasters
like this one. The damage to
the area is overwhelming.
The people will need all the
help that we and others can
provide for a long period,”
said Gary Turner, NCCC
southern region director.
As residents in rural Mis-
sissippi work toward recov-
ery, the Better Business
Bureau (BBB) Serving Mis-
19A
Epps. She, in fact, says she
would like to keep the commu-
nication channel open with
him. “I am satisfied with my
communication with Mr.
Epps,” she said.
While national attention has
been given to Jamie Scott’s
need for kidney replacement,
Mrs. Rasco said her daughter
Gladys is also suffering from
serious medical problems.
“Jamie has made it plain that
she won’t leave without her sis-
ter,” she said Tuesday.
time that Barrett’s body had been
found in the burning house back
on East Petros Road at 8 a.m.
Thursday.
Vincent McGee was for-
mally indicted for the murder
of Richard Barrett in Rankin
County court Tuesday morn-
ing. Three others were charged
with accessory after the fact in
the case. Michael Dent, 22, a
friend of McGee, was denied
bond and remained in jail.
Dent’s mother, Vickie Dent,
was released on $5,000 bond.
McGee’s stepfather, Alfred
Lewis, the man who allegedly
drove McGee to Holmes’
house after Barrett’s slaying,
was released from jail because
of a medical condition. Lewis
will go directly before the
grand jury, the district attor-
ney’s announced.
sissippi doesn’t want them
taken advantage of. BBB is
warning consumers to watch
for possible fraudulent ap-
peals for disaster assistance
and repair work. “Mississip-
pians are renowned for their
generosity, and disasters such
as the one which occurred re-
cently often move people to
want to help,” said Bill Moak,
President of the BBB Serving
Mississippi. “However, please
make sure that you know the
facts before giving money to
help disaster recovery efforts,
or to make home or business
repairs.”