Fatal Gunplay Remains Under Scrutiny
Michael Allen Smith
Fatal Gunplay Remains Under Scrutiny
By David Howell
Editor
OAKLAND – The Yalobusha County Sheriff’s Department and Mississippi Department of Investigation (MBI) are investigating the shooting death of 20 year-old Michael Allen Smith Friday night.
Sheriff Lance Humphreys reported the incident occurred on County Road 24 near Oakland around 7 p.m. after several friends were outside target shooting.
“Everything right now is pointing to an accidental shooting,” Humphreys told the Herald, adding the incident remains under investigation and he anticipates the evidence will be presented to the next grand jury.
“We interviewed everybody and held the shooter in jail Friday night until we finished up with the statements around 3 a.m. Saturday. All of the statements were the same,” Humphreys reported about the case.
Yalobusha Coroner Ronnie Stark also responded and pronounced Smith dead at the scene from a single gunshot wound to the chest. Smith’s body was transported to Jackson Saturday for an autopsy. Assistant District Attorney Steven Jubera told the Herald Monday that results from the autopsy and other evidence gathered at the scene will be analyzed as the investigation proceeds. Jubera also responded to the scene.
Smith is from Panola County and lived in the Enid area in Tallahatchie County. Services will be held Sunday, Sept. 13, at Hosanna Family Worship Center in Pope at 5 p.m. Wells Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Authorities also investigated a fatality on County Road 211 in a one-car accident around 10 p.m. Michael Smitherman of Coffeeville was pronounced dead at the scene by Deputy Coroner Debbie Jackson.
Smitherman’s body was sent to Jackson for an autopsy Monday morning. The autopsy report identified the cause of death as a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
