Jury hangs; unable to convict at murder trial

Published 8:42 pm Friday, March 24, 2017

Warren County District Attorney Ricky Smith said he will seek a new trial date after a 12-member jury was unable to convict a man charged with first-degree murder in the May 2015 murder of a woman on Grammar Street.

Smith said the jury voted 11-1 to convict Derrick Ramone Hall who is accused of fatally stabbing 31-year-old Kathryn Peacock at 1224 Grammar St. Mississippi law requires a unanimous jury to convict a person of a crime.

“I don’t know what that one juror was thinking,” Smith said. “I intend to ask Judge (M. James) Chaney to set a new trial date as soon as possible so we can retry this case.”

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Hall was arrested May 6,  2015, and charged with Peacock’s death.

Peacock was found in her home at about 8 p.m. by her boyfriend who called 911, police said. Authorities said officers arrived to find her with multiple stab wounds.

She was pronounced dead at the scene by Deputy Coroner Ron Regan, who sent Peacock’s body to the Mississippi State Crime Lab in Jackson for an autopsy.

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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