Man injured in cellphone fight accused of shooting his brother

Published 8:00 pm Monday, February 26, 2018

A Vicksburg man was being held in the Warren County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bond, accused of shooting his brother during an argument.

Municipal Judge Penny Lawson set the bond for Rafeel David Wells, 27, 221 First Ave., during an initial appearance in court Monday morning.

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He is accused of shooting his brother, Ronald Taundiwee Wells, 39, at their home. Police believe the shooting was the result of an argument between the brothers over the use of a cellphone that occurred earlier in the day.

Rafeel Wells was arrested at a home in the 200 block of First Avenue.

Ronald Wells was taken by ambulance to Merit Health River Region, where he was treated and released.

According to police reports, officers were called to the home earlier Saturday about a stabbing and arrived to find Rafeel Wells had a cut on his left arm, which police believe was caused by a piece of broken glass during a fight between the brothers over the phone.

The shooting was the second in less than a week in the city.

James Jeffery McBroom 58, No. 5 Hayfield Road, was charged with aggravated assault in the Feb. 22 shooting of Billy Joe Harrison, 64, also of Vicksburg, who was wounded in the chest during an argument at the Klondyke, 100 North Washington St.

McBroom was released after posting a $50,000 bond.

In other cases:

• A second man has been charged in the Feb. 18 break-in and fire at Warren Central High School, Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said.

Devon Stellios Crim, 801 Lakeside Drive, is charged with being an accessory before the fact to burglary and first-degree arson in the case. He was released on $5,000 bond.

Pace said Crim, an employee of SSC Services for Education, a Ridgeland-based janitorial service that has a contract with the Vicksburg Warren School District, is accused of giving a key to the building to Bershard Devaun Brooks, a former employee of the company.

Brooks, 19, No. 45 Randle St., is charged with burglary and first-degree arson in the break-in. He remains in the county jail in lieu of $50,000 bond.

He is accused of entering the A building of Warren Central High School, 1000 Mississippi 27, sometime early Monday and setting fire to books and papers sitting on a desk in an office. The smoldering fire was discovered by school maintenance employees and extinguished.

Pace said a bank bag containing more than $100 that was found during Brooks’ arrest had been reported missing from the school’s band hall.

• Petty cash was reported taken Saturday from the Snack Shack, 2510 Halls Ferry Road.

• A PlayStation 4 and games were reported taken from a home in the 3500 block of Oak Street.

About John Surratt

John Surratt is a graduate of Louisiana State University with a degree in general studies. He has worked as an editor, reporter and photographer for newspapers in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post staff since 2011 and covers city government. He and his wife attend St. Paul Catholic Church and he is a member of the Port City Kiwanis Club.

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