Charges were filed Friday against a woman and a man in the 2007 death of James Buie, a Vicksburg cab company owner whose shooting was the only Vicksburg homicide from that year in which at least one arrest had not been made.

“It feels good, but it’s not over,” said Hattie Dunn a sister of the 52-year-old Buie, who was widely known for wearing many hats, including as a concert and festival promoter and owner of a towing company.

The female suspect is Valerie Shepard, 38, and said by a relative to be four months pregnant. She is a convicted felon, having already served a manslaughter sentence in the 1993 shooting death of her husband.

Shepard, who lives at 1609B Court St., was picked up by police at 12:15 p.m. Friday at her home. She faces a murder charge, accused of being the person who shot Buie in the abdomen with a handgun on June 27, 2007, at the Kar-Kleen Machine Shop & Car Wash, 2900 Clay St., near Hope Street.

The male suspect is Tim-othy Clark, 23, who will be charged as an accessory. He is at East Mississippi Correctional Facility, serving a 45-year sentence for armed carjacking in an unrelated case about the same time as the Buie shooting. Clark was arrested July 11, 2007, and his convictions also include possession of a weapon by a felon and four counts of armed robbery.

Vicksburg police Lt. Bobby Stewart said Buie had apparently stopped to clean the cab he was driving early that morning. After being shot, he was taken to River Region Medical Center before being transferred to University Medical Center in Jackson on July 10. He died there four days later.

Shepard was brought to police headquarters during a press conference announcing her arrest, then placed in the Warren County Jail pending an initial court appearance Monday.

Dunn was confident police had what they needed to make their case. “It has definitely been a relief for me,” she said, “because from the beginning I knew she did it.”

Buie’s daughter Tameka Butler did not appear as confident. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen the evidence. The police did,” Butler said.

The victim’s relationship to Shepard and Clark was unclear as was the motive, Stewart said. Shepard’s son, Robert Shepard, said his mother was Buie’s fiancee. Robert Shepard also said his mother is expecting a child.

Buie was interviewed by police before he died, but Stewart declined to release details. “He offered clear statements that helped us put the puzzle together,” Stewart said. Buie did tell authorities he was not robbed. “He had all of his money,” Stewart said.

Re-interviewing witnesses, re-examining evidence and statements led police to Shepard, Steward said.

“We’ve received several tips along the way,” he said. “It’s been a collective effort between the department and the people in the community.”

After examining statements following the shooting and those provided more recently, Stewart said officials found some inconsistencies in Shepard’s and Clark’s statements.

“Some things that seemed minute then, with the re-examination and re-interviews, stood out,” said Stewart.

Buie operated J&B Cab Company for 15 years. It continued after his death until last July 20. Butler said the city’s insurance requirements and its heavily subsidized NRoute transit system put them out of business. The closure meant there was no cab service in Vicksburg for the first time in more than 75 years.

Friday’s charges were in the third “cold case” revisited since October.

Dwight Albert, 35, 240 Bazinsky Road, and his sister Kathryn Blue, 30, 2606 Ken Karyl Ave., were arrested Dec. 3, 2009, for the murder of 26-year-old Kennado Caples, who was shot several times in his home at 2708 Letitia St. on May 8, 2005. Larry Hamlin, 30, 848 Shenandoah Valley Road, is charged as an accessory after the fact in that case.

Tyler Lee Smith, 51, 3112 N. Washington St., was arrested Nov. 6, 2009, for shooting former Vicksburg assistant police Chief Walter Cole on July 23, 2008.

In 2007, seven homicides were recorded in Vicksburg, and, before Friday, arrests had been made in all but the Buie case.

There were three homicides in Vicksburg in 2009 and arrests have been made in all of them.

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Contact Tish Butts at tbutts@vicksburgpost.com

and Ben Bryant at bbryant@vicksburgpost.com