A number of cases were heard Thursday in Warren County courtrooms.

In the court room of Judge Toni Terrett, Jamila Barnes, who was charged with uttering a felony, had her probation revoked and was ordered to serve the balance of the sentence, five years. Jamarion Jefferson, charged with leaving the scene of an accident, was given permission to drive to a job as a condition of his bond.

In the court room of Judge M. James Chaney, Awhet Woldezghi pleaded guilty to forging a prescription. Woldezghi was caught on video at a Vicksburg pharmacy attempting to fill a forged prescription. He accepted a plea deal for five years in the custody of Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC), with two years to serve and three years suspended, plus court costs and fines.

In previous court matters, a trial for Roderick Bennett, who is charged with committing lewd acts with a minor, is set for Monday, March 17. Bennett is represented by attorney John Bullard, who argued unsuccessfully to disallow testimony from Dr. Scott Benton, the state’s board-certified child abuse pediatrician. Benton is a forensic consultant with University of Mississippi Medical Center Children’s Safe Center. Another matter raised in court was allowing a witness to testify live via the Zoom platform. Chaney ruled that this testimony would be allowed.

John Erwin Sr. was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. During a stop by the Vicksburg Police Department (VPD) in December 2024, it was discovered the truck Erwin was driving did not match the plates on the vehicle. Erwin gave consent to search his vehicle. A jacket was found by VPD lying on the driver’s seat containing a gun and drugs/syringes in the pockets. One of the two passengers with Erwin admitted to owning the narcotics, but claimed the gun belonged to Erwin. Erwin disputed this and testified it was not his gun and body camera footage from the VPD officer involved would show that the jacket was not actually in the driver’s seat.

Additional testimony was given by the MDOC regarding the defendant’s failure to both meet with his probation officer and pay all fines, court costs and restitution. This was in connection with an order from the previous felonies of receipt of stolen property and possession of precursor drugs that can be used to manufacture a controlled substance. Erwin also disputed this, stating that his payments had been stolen by someone at the restitution center.

On Thursday, body camera footage from VPD was reviewed in court. The footage recorded Erwin and two others being questioned and detained. Body camera footage did not show the interior of Erwin’s truck. Additional testimony on the matter will continue Thursday, March 20.