Murder suspects held in county jail without bail
Published 12:32 am Saturday, October 24, 2015
- COURT APPEARANCE: Chief of Police Walter Armstrong escorts Leroy Stewart from a holding cell to a courtroom. Stewart was arrested Thursday morning and charged with murder of Reginald Davis.
Two Vicksburg men remained in the Warren County Jail without bail after their initial appearance in Municipal Court Friday on multiple charges including first-degree murder in the Wednesday night shooting death of Reginald Davis.
The men are accused of shooting and killing Davis, 21, during what police believe was a robbery in the 1400 block of Main Street. Davis died in the emergency room at Merit Health River Region Medical Center. An autopsy was ordered, Deputy Warren County Coroner Ronald Regan said.
Municipal Judge Toni Walker Terrett declined to set bail for Jamarcus Carter, 18, and Leroy Stewart, 21. Besides first-degree murder, both men are each charged with armed robbery, two counts of aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit robbery. Stewart is also charged with possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.
The attempted aggravated assault charges involve a woman who was in the car with Davis when he was shot, police Capt. Sandra Williams said.
“Davis was shot in the car, our evidence shows,” Williams said.
Terrett said during the hearing the woman was three months pregnant, adding the second attempted aggravated assault charge involved the potential threat to the unborn child.
Separate court appearances were held for each man, but Terrett told both, “These are very serious charges,” adding the maximum penalty for the charges is life in prison.
Carter, was arrested Thursday and was held in a holding facility at the police department, appeared in court shackled and dressed in blue jeans and a white T-shirt. When Terrett asked him if he understood the charges, he shook his head.
Stewart, who turned himself in and spent the night at the Issaquena County Correctional Facility, was shackled and clad in an orange prison jump suit.
Terrett declined to set bail for Carter because he was out on bond for a previous felony when Davis was killed. Stewart has a Mississippi Department of Corrections warrant for parole violation involving a previous conviction.
Carter was out on bond involving charges of burglary and armed robbery in connection with a Jan. 18 incident on Ethel Street.
Stewart pleaded guilty in October 2014 to burglary in Warren County Circuit Court and sentenced to seven years in prison, according to MDOC records. He was released on parole in September. The parole violation was filed by MDOC after he failed to see his parole officer.