PORT GIBSON – The man charged with fatally shooting the board of supervisors’ attorney, wounding another county employee and shooting into the home of a third was denied bond Tuesday.

Also during a preliminary hearing before Claiborne County Justice Court Judge Daniel Lucas, the district attorney said Carl Brandon may eventually face an additional felony count in the shooting into an occupied home.

Lucas’ ruling means Brandon, 52, will continue to be held in the Claiborne County Detention Center on charges of murder in the death of attorney Allen Burrell, aggravated assault for injuries to county road department secretary Loretha Porter and firing a shotgun into the home of County Administrator James Miller on March 17.

About 35 people crowded into the county’s circuit courtroom. District Attorney Alexander Martin said the judge &#8220should also consider possible danger to other people” in the community in deciding whether to grant Brandon’s request for pretrial release.

Brandon, a former county road manager, was fired from that job by the county’s board of supervisors nine years ago following a report that he had sexually harassed a woman who also worked in the department.

Burrell and Miller both helped investigate the complaint against Brandon. Porter was employed by the road department and provided information in the investigation, Sheriff Frank Davis testified Tuesday.

Brandon is accused of waiting for Burrell to arrive at his Market Street office about 8 a.m., confronting him and killing him in the street with a shotgun blast, then firing into Miller’s home before shooting a pistol at Porter while she was in her office in the road department building on Mississippi 18. He surrendered at Davis’ office about 8:30. Porter was released after treatment for abdominal wounds at University Medical Center.

The woman Brandon was accused of harassing, Kelly Savage, remains employed by the road department but was on sick leave and was not at work the day of the shootings, Davis testified.

She and others, including the five former members of the county’s board of supervisors who made the decision to fire Brandon, could be in danger from Brandon if Brandon were released, Martin said.

Brandon was represented at the hearing by attorney and state Rep. Ed Blackmon of Canton.

The county’s firing of Brandon in May 1997 was upheld on appeal at the circuit and appeals court levels. The Mississippi Supreme Court declined to hear the case in October 2002.

Chief Deputy Fredrick Yarbrough testified that Brandon had confessed to the shooting and that he had given Yarbrough a statement that was recorded on videotape.

&#8220Mr. Brandon said, ‘I’m the one who did the shooting,’” Yarbrough testified.

Blackmon argued that the facts that Brandon is a lifelong resident of Claiborne County, has deep family roots there and has known the sheriff practically his entire life meant Lucas should grant him bond with appropriate restrictions. Blackmon also said the judge should consider the limitation Brandon being kept in jail would place on his ability to consult with his defense attorneys.

Martin said the seriousness of the charges and their potential penalties should be among the factors Lucas considered in deciding whether to grant bond.

The grand jury that hears the case could add the additional felony – aggravated assault – for shooting into Miller’s home, Martin said. If such a count is added, the maximum sentence Brandon could receive on all four charges would be life plus 50 years, Martin said. A conviction on a murder charge carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison. None of the charges, separately or in combination could lead to a death sentence under Mississippi law.