The motive remains murky, but relatives of slain former Vicksburg Assistant Police Chief Walter Cole were relieved Monday that an arrest has been made in a homicide unsolved for 17 months.

“Up until yesterday, I had a sad feeling,” Willie Jordan, 87, an uncle of Cole, said at a press conference Monday in front of Vicksburg police headquarters. Jordan said he had been told of the arrest Sunday. “Last night, I slept all night,” he said.

It was Jordan, who described himself as a “life brother” to Cole and saw him daily, who searched for Cole on the morning of July 23, 2008. Jordan said he worried because he had not seen his nephew the night before. He found Cole shot to death in his car at Pittman Road and Railroad Avenue, less than a mile from his Waltersville Estates home, about 8:30 a.m.

“He was lying face down, and I said, ‘Yeah, there he is,’” Jordan said, “and I called 911.”

Identified by police after the killing as a person of interest, Tyler Lee Smith, 51, 3112 N. Washington St., was arrested Friday afternoon. Smith was denied bond during his initial appearance before Judge Johnny Price in Warren County Court Monday morning.

Smith was charged with capital murder because Cole was robbed before he was shot to death, Lt. Bobby Stewart said. A .38-caliber handgun believed to have been used in the shooting and other items belonging to Cole were missing from the vehicle, Stewart said. The weapon was found in April in Vicksburg. In Mississippi, capital murder includes homicides accompanied by a separate felony. Those convicted face a sentence of death or life in prison without parole.

Cole’s sister, Ruth Gates of Cary, thanked the police department at the press conference.

“There were a many sleepless nights, and I thank God for (the police). We can rest in peace now knowing that the person has been arrested,” Gates said.

Records show on Oct. 2, Smith pleaded guilty to the June 12 burglary of Town and Country Lounge, 3350 N. Washington St., for which he had been arrested and jailed the same day. He was sentenced by Judge Isadore Patrick to 111 days in jail, approximately the time since the break-in, and he was released from the Warren County Jail on Oct. 7.

Stewart said Smith was picked up Friday at Pittman Road and North Washington Street. Police are disclosing no other evidence linking Smith to the crime other than witness statements that the two were seen together the night before. Cole, who was 75, had been shot about 1 a.m., the investigation showed.

Monday’s press conference was a large event, with officers, many of them retired, flanking Police Chief Walter Armstrong, who credited new statements as leading to the arrest. “There were some individuals that had some information that we were able to communicate with over the last few weeks,” Armstrong said.

He said the arrest was a milestone for Vicksburg. “Chief Cole had worked more than 30 years in public service. He had dedicated his entire adult life to serving the citizens of this community,” Armstrong said.

Cole, a veteran, was one of the first seven black officers hired by the department in the early 1970s. He retired in 1995 as third-in-command of the department and became a detention officer for the Warren County Sheriff’s Department from May 1997 until November 2005.

Smith was taken to the Warren County Jail after his court appearance.

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Contact Tish Butts at tbutts@vicksburgpost.com