A 17-year-old is the accused killer in two slayings within eight months in a small town in north Mississippi. But a Mississippi sheriff says the latest homicide — a drive-by on Dec. 7 that claimed the life a 66-year-old and wounded four others — wouldn't have happened if Latavious Betts had been kept behind bars.

For that, Lee County Sheriff Jim Johnson blames Verona Police Chief J.B. Long.

On a Facebook live video posted Dec. 11, Johnson calls the handling of the case "disturbing."

"It was definitely a drop in responsibility of how the case was handled," he said. "The very mere fact that somebody is able to just sign a bond, without any promissory note, without any land being put up, without any money being put up, at age 17, and you can just walk out on a murder charge is disturbing and this is what the results are."

On March 22, a fatal shooting at a Verona car wash left one dead and the suspects on the run. Witness accounts were sketchy at times, Long said, and the investigation hit some delays. In April, police called in Betts, then 16, on an "investigative hold."

Betts was arrested and charged with murder. But, Long said, witness testimony was still questionable. Long said he had enough evidence to charge Betts but not enough evidence to keep him in jail. So, Betts was issued a $50,000 bond and released on his own recognizance. He never paid the bond and never saw a judge.

"When the guy was released, I released him because of the fact I did not have the evidence to hold him," Long said. "It was not strong enough evidence to keep him based on witness testimony."

Johnson disagrees. In the video, he called out the chief, saying, in part, "this individual that had been charged with murder was allowed to walk out without any type of promissory note, without any type of surety or anything else...was able to walk out of here (Lee County Jail) on a felony murder charge simply by a signature bond."

"He was just turned loose to go back out and do whatever he wanted to do," Johnson said. "That is concerning of how this happened. The only way an individual posts bond at our jail is I have to approve any and all bonds so this was all done without my knowledge, outside the realm of the sheriff's department.

"One thing I want to make clear is we did not have anything to do with this individual being turned out, nor did any judge. This was solely the responsibility of the police department there at Verona."

In July, Betts was allegedly involved in a convenience store shooting that left two injured. He was charged with aggravated assault in that incident. He appeared before a Justice Court judge and received a bond of $50,000. He was again released.

In the video, Johnson says the judge was not made aware of Betts' previous murder charge.

In September, the Police Department handed over the case file to the Lee County district attorney's office. The case was presented to the grand jury that month, and Betts was indicted. District Attorney John Weddle said his office recognized Betts as a danger to the community and, on Oct. 4, requested he be held without bond.

"Anybody could look at this young's man history, just recent history, and see that he was a danger," Weddle said.

The Lee County circuit clerk's office said an arrest warrant was assigned to the Sheriff's Department. But the warrant was never served for an unknown reason. Betts did not show up to his arraignment.

He was not taken into custody until Dec. 14, after he was charged with first-degree murder for the second time.

He is currently in the custody of the Lee County Jail and is being held without bond.

Long said before the April encounter with Betts, he "never knew about the young man, never head nothing, never saw him."

In hindsight, Long said, his judgment to release Betts "may not have been the best."

"I think, at the time, it was handled the way it should have been handled," he said. "We can all use different judgment after we make decisions. Based on my thought process at the time, I feel like it was handled the way it should have been handled. It may not have been the best but it was the judgment used."

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