Shooting suspect makes initial court appearance

Published 12:11 pm Friday, August 30, 2019

Bond has been set at $500,000 for a 17-year-old Vicksburg teen accused of shooting a man on Speed Street Aug. 23.

Municipal Judge Penny Lawson set the bond for Isaiah Jamal Leshun Smith, 1718 Locust St., at an initial appearance in Municipal Court Friday. Smith is charged with aggravated assault in the shooting of Desmond Taylor, 28, in a house in the 800 block of Speed Street.

At the time of the shooting, he was out on $100,000 bond on a charge of aggravated assault-extreme indifference and shooting into a dwelling in a July 17 incident in which a man was wounded while sitting in his car.

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Vicksburg Police Lt. Johnnie Edwards said police will ask 9th Circuit District Attorney Ricky Smith to file a motion to revoke the earlier bond.

According to police reports, witnesses said Smith pulled up to the house on Speed Street on Aug. 23 in a gold 2011 Nissan Altima, entered the house and argued with Taylor before shooting him in the leg.

Taylor was taken by ambulance to Merit Health River Region for treatment.

Smith was arrested without incident Thursday at 210 Meadowvale St., where police had gone to serve a warrant charging him with aggravated assault.

In other cases:

• A Vicksburg man is being held in the Warren County Jail for Mississippi Department of Corrections authorities after he walked away from an MDOC probation officer.

Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said the man, who was not identified, was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, a misdemeanor, and has a hold placed on him by MDOC for probation violation.

According to sheriff’s office reports, the man and the probation officer were talking outside the MDOC Probation and Parole office on Clay Street, when the officer asked him to come inside the building. The man walked away, and the officer called 911 for officers to look for the man.

Sheriff’s investigator Sam Winchester saw the man cross Clay Street near Church’s Chicken, and deputies Hamp Lyons and Patrick Brown later saw the man on South Street, where they took him into custody with Vicksburg police. During a search after the arrest, authorities found a methamphetamine pipe in the man’s pants.

• Shots were reported fired about 11:25 p.m. Thursday at the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and Enchanted Drive. Nothing was found by officers responding to the call.

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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