9th arrest made in Miss. officers' deaths

Tim Doherty | Hattiesburg (Miss.) American

HATTIESBURG, Miss. — A ninth person has been arrested in connection with the May 9 shooting deaths of two Hattiesburg patrolmen.

Brodrick Kendell Varnado, 25, of Hattiesburg has been charged with accessory after the fact of capital murder, according to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.

Varnado is being held in the Forrest County jail, awaiting his initial appearance in Hattiesburg Justice Court.

Hattiesburg police officers Benjamin J. Deen and Liquori Tate each suffered single gunshot wounds during a traffic stop shortly before 8 p.m. May 9 near downtown Hattiesburg.

They died later that night at Forrest General Hospital.

MBI spokesman Warren Strain also said Wednesday that Jimmy "Jimbo" Velton Brady was arrested May 15 and has been charged with possession of a stolen weapon.

Details about the charge or how it fit into the shooting were unavailable.

Brady had his bond on a previous charge of aggravated domestic violence revoked before Judge Robert Evans set bond at $20,000 on the weapon charge.

Strain said MBI's investigation is ongoing but would not give further details.

Two suspects charged in the shooting deaths are no longer being held.

Douglas Diquan McPhail, 21, and Anquanette L. Alexander, 19, both of Hattiesburg, posted bond and were released May 18, the day the amounts were set during their initial appearances in Forrest County Justice Court.

Evans set bond at $15,000 for McPhail and $10,000 for Alexander. Both are charged with rendering criminal assistance to a fleeing felon.

The state had requested bonds of $100,000 for both suspects, but Evans said the lower figures still are high enough to compel McPhail and Alexander to appear for their future court dates.

MBI arrested Alexander and McPhail May 15 as the sixth and seventh people connected to the shooting deaths.

Marvin Banks, 29, of Hattiesburg is being held without bond on two counts of capital murder. He also was charged with grand larceny and possession of a weapon by a felon.

His younger brother, Curtis Banks, 26, and Joanie Calloway, 22, both of Hattiesburg, were charged with accessory after the fact to capital murder. Banks' bond was set at $100,000 by Forrest County Court Judge Gay Polk-Payton, while she set Calloway's at $75,000.

A fourth suspect, Cornelius Clark, 28, of Hattiesburg, is charged with obstruction. Polk-Payton set his bond at $75,000.

Polk-Payton remanded the four to the custody of Forrest County Sheriff's Department.

A fifth suspect, Abram Wade "Pete" Franklin, 29, is charged with obstruction. Polk-Payton set his bond at $75,000.

The Banks brothers, Calloway, Clark, Franklin and Brady all remain jailed in Forrest County.