By By Sheila Blackmon/The Meridian Star
Jan. 20, 2001
DEKALB A Kemper County grand jury has indicted Jefferson Hampton for aggravated assault in connection with the December 12 shooting of Johnny Johnson. Both men are from the Preston community.
The grand jury handed down 26 indictments and some suspects were arraigned Friday.
The shooting occurred on Kellis Store Road. Tisdale said Johnson was shot three times with a .22-caliber handgun. He was transported to Rush Foundation Hospital where he underwent surgery.
Jeremiah Davis was also indicted for aggravated assault, but Tisdale reportedly has told investigators he does not remember the details of the case. Davis' court date is also set for the first week of May.
In other action, the grand jury handed down four felony escape indictments two each for Donald Burrage and Perdrell Edwards, who escaped from the old Kemper County jail twice last year.
During their first escape, a prison guard was hit over the head. They escaped with a third inmate who later turned himself back in. Burrage and Edwards were recaptured about a week later. They escaped a second time when a trustee inadvertently left a cell door unlocked.
They were again recaptured and Tisdale said he is "very much happy" with their indictments. The second escape occurred late last year shortly before the newly-constructed Kemper-Neshoba Regional Correctional Facility opened. The two were temporarily housed in Lauderdale County's facility until they could be transported to Kemper's new jail.
The case of 14-year-old Ramero Dansby of Scooba has been continued. Dansby was arrested and charged with aggravated assault in December in connection with the Dec. 13 shooting of Robert Earl Byrd, also of Scooba.
Byrd was shot three times in the leg with a .38-caliber handgun in the Piney Woods community, about 5 miles north of Scooba on Old Highway 45. He was transported to Noxubee General Hospital then later transferred to a Columbus Hospital where he was released after a short stay.
Sheila Blackmon is a staff writer for The Meridian Star. E-mail her at sblackmon@themeridianstar.com.