WATER VALLEY – Authorities are continuing to pursue leads in the March 4 homicide on Stephens Street in Water Valley. Officers with the Water Valley Police Department discovered the body of 39 year-old Justina Pritchard inside an abandoned house after responding to a 911 call around 5:30 p.m. Yalobusha County Coroner Ronnie Stark reported Pritchard was pronounced dead at the scene with a gunshot wound and the case is being investigated as a homicide.
Water Valley Police Chief Jason Mangrum reported no arrests have been made and his department continues to work the case with assistance from multiple agencies including state and federal partners.
Authorities responded to an abandoned home on Stephens Street in Water Valley Monday afternoon after a 911 caller reported hearing a gunshot.
“I don’t think there is a day that has passed that we haven’t interviewed somebody. We have taken every lead seriously,” Mangrum reported Tuesday afternoon. “We are making progress and expect a break in this case soon.”
The chief reported he is in constant contact with an agent from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation assigned as the agency’s lead investigator on the case. Mangrum also said most of the tips in the case are possible sightings of a person of interest wanted for questioning in connection with the case.
“Most of the information we are receiving is possible sightings of the person of interest,” Mangrum explained. “We have checked into each one of them.”
The chief reported last week that the motive is likely either a narcotics or domestic situation.
“One or the other or both,” he told the Herald.
