Mississippi investigator killed serving warrant on pedophile

Posted in Related Deaths

5-1-2012 Mississippi:

PEARL, Miss. — A police investigator was killed Tuesday in a shootout with a suspect, officials said.

Senior Investigator Mike Walters was shot in the head as he and other detectives tried to serve warrants on a suspect wanted for sexual battery.

Upon entering an apartment in Pearl, police located a man hiding in a bathtub who began to resist arrest, according to The Officer Down Memorial Page.

Officers used a TASER against the subject, who opened fire on the officers and struck Walters in the face. Another officer returned fire and killed the man.

A helicopter airlifted Walters and two other injured officers to the University of Mississippi Medical Center, but Walters was declared dead, The Clarion Ledger reports.

Paying tribute to the fallen officer, Mayor Brad Rogers told a news conference,"It's a job most of us probably wouldn't do."

The two officers injured in the incident are reportedly in stable condition. ..Source.. by PoliceOne Staff

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Slain officer may be 1st in Pearl killed in line of duty

A slain officer is the first from Pearl Police Department to die in the line of duty since the town’s incorporation in 1973, said Chief Ben Schuler.

Investigator Mike Walter, 32, was killed by a gunman who holed up in a bathroom while police served a search warrant for sexual assault and molestation.

The suspect, Carnell Gaines, 30, did not answer the door when police knocked, so they had an apartment complex manager open his door. As they searched the apartment, they came across him in the bathroom.

When Gaines would not show his hands, an officer went for his taser, and Gaines opened fire, killing Walter, a father, husband, and former professional baseball player.

Walter is from San Diego, Calif., according to a release put out by Pearl spokesman Lt. Butch Townsend. He played professional baseball for the Houston Astros from 1993-2000.

Friends of the family said he met his wife, Jeanne, while he was playing baseball, and moved back to Mississippi so she could be closer to home.

The Walters have an 11-year old daughter, Bailey.

He was hired by Pearl in February 2009 as a patrol officer, and moved up quickly to the position of investigator, Townsend said.

“Mike was a beacon of sunshine,” said Townsend in the release. “No words can express our feelings of loss at this time.”

The other officers injured in the shooting were Investigator Dave McCarley, who was shot in the hand and the leg, and Shaun Terwilliger, who received injuries to his forearm that were not gun-related.

McCarley’s injuries are serious, but Townsend said he should make a full recovery with surgery.

“One of the bad parts about our business is the fact that it must go on,” Townsend wrote. “The thin blue line cannot be allowed to be broken. Now we face that task without our brother Mike by our side. Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers. A good man was lost today.” ..Source.. by The Clarion-Ledger

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2 Officers shot in Pearl; Officer, Suspect Killed

A Pearl police officer was shot and killed today at the Colony Park Apartments in Pearl. Another officer was also shot and a 3rd injured. The suspect, 30-year-old Carnell Gaines Jr., was also shot and killed.

Rankin County District Attorney Michael Guest identified the slain officer as Investigator Mike Walter. He was shot in the head.

University of Mississippi Medical Center spokesman Jack Mazurak said the slain officer died at 11:56 a.m.

Mazurak said the two other officers were in good condition.

Michael Guest confirms that Officer Dave McCarley was shot in the leg and hand and transported by ambulance to UMC. His injuries do not appear to be life threatening. Officer Shawn Terwilliger was injured at the scene but not from gunfire. He also is being treated at UMC.

According to officials, just after 11 a.m. several officers attempted to serve a search warrant and an arrest warrant on 30-year-old Carnell Gaines Jr., who lived in Building 24 at the apartment complex.

When no one answered the door, police got the apartment manager to open the unit. While searching, officers discovered Gaines hiding in the bathtub of a rear bedroom and bath.

Officers reported that Gaines was uncooperative and was about to be tazed when Gaines drew a weapon and began firing. The officers returned fire.

Two officers were shot and another injured during the shootout. Gaines was shot and killed. One of the shot officers later died at University Medical Center in Jackson. The two other officers are listed in good and fair condition.

A neighbor told Fox 40 News that Gaines lived in the apartment with his girlfriend who was pregnant.

According to police, the arrest warrant was for sexual battery and the search warrant was for child pornography. Gaines also has a drug conviction from 2002.



Lieutenant Butch Townsend released this statement for Pearl Police Department:

Today the Pearl Police Department lost an officer in the line of duty. This is a sad first for our town that was incorporated in 1973.

Our beloved friend and comrade, Investigator Michael J. Walter, known to us simply as Mike, was thirty seven years old. He is survived by his loving wife Jeanne and the absolute light of his life, his daughter Bailey age eleven.

Mike also leaves behind his parents John and Judy Walter in their native San Diego, California.

Besides his family, Mike had three passions: the San Diego Chargers, professional baseball and law enforcement.

Mike played professional baseball for the Houston Astros from 1993 – 2000. Mike was hired by the Pearl Police Department in February of 09 as a patrol officer. His knowledge, intellect and inquiring mind enabled him to move to the position of investigator in rapid time, assuming that position in October of 2010.

Also injured in the same incident today was Investigator Dave McCarley. McCarley was shot in the hand and leg. His wounds are serious with surgery and extensive rehab most likely to be needed. He is expected to make a full recovery.

Investigator Shaun Terwilliger received injuries to his forearm, not fire arm related, and was treated and released.

No words can express our feeling of loss at this time. Mike was a beacon of sunshine. Nothing but kind words for all. Seldom did a smile leave his face and his smiles were never bigger than when he would speak of his wife and daughter. We loved him as much he loved them.

One of the bad parts about our business is the fact that it must go on. The thin blue line cannot be allowed to be broken. Now we face that task without our brother Mike by our side. Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers. A good man was lost today. We’ll keep you posted on the arrangements, which are incomplete as of this time. Mike’s picture is attached. Note the Chargers logo. Thank you for thinking about us. ..Source.. by Fox40.com

From prison to a pauper's grave

3-28-2012 Mississippi:

VICKSBURG, Miss. (WTW) — When Vicksburg native Stuart Brooks was killed Feb. 21 in his prison cell at the East Mississippi Correctional Facility, a family member's old fear was proved prophetic.

"Stuart is very much in need of psychological help," Brooks' aunt wrote in 1995, before he was sentenced for the sexual battery of her 9-year-old son. "I know that with his mentality, he would not survive in a prison, someone would probably kill him. I don't think he'll ever be able to function in a normal society."

Brooks was 18 when he was convicted in Warren County Circuit Court of assaulting his young cousin. Writing to then-Judge Frank Vollor as part of Vollor's pre-sentencing investigation, Brooks' aunt was torn — angry about what happened to her son but concerned for her nephew.

"He's going to need help for the rest of his life and should be locked up that long," she wrote.

Instead, Brooks was released after serving 15 years of a 30-year sentence, was re-arrested and sent back to prison for failing to register as a sex offender.

About halfway through that three-year sentence, he was strangled, an autopsy showed, at the Lost Gap facility. His cellmate has been charged in his death.

With Brooks' death, all those close to the 1995 case are gone.

Brooks' aunt, who wrote to Vollor, died in 1996; his mother died in 2006. The victim died in 2007. Brooks, who was 35, was given a pauper's burial March 6 in Vicksburg's Cedar Hill Cemetery, the $500 expense approved by the Warren County Board of Supervisors the day before and the plot provided by the city.

The burial was attended by Brooks' sister, Leslie Crosby, now of Madison, his aunt Cynthia Brooks of Houston, his friend Annie Sims of Vicksburg and 10 or 15 others, Sims said.

Crosby, 37, said she last saw her brother in 1993, before she moved away from Vicksburg.

Family members had not visited Stuart Brooks during his incarceration, as finances, transportation problems and other issues got in the way, Cynthia Brooks said.

"In spite of the situation, all the different things that get in the way, they are still your family, regardless," she said.

Sims, 42, said Brooks was a lifelong friend. The two stayed in touch during his years in prison, and it was Sims whom the prison's chaplain, John Newbaker, called Feb. 21 to say Brooks' body had been found.

Sims, Crosby and Cynthia Brooks said getting information from prison officials has been difficult and they've been "given the runaround."

Sims was given conflicting information about where Brooks' body was taken, and Crosby was told she was "not on the list" to be told what happened.

"No one wanted to talk to me," said Crosby. "They said they couldn't give me any information and kept saying I needed to speak with the warden."

She didn't reach him until two days after Brooks' death, and by that time what she knew of the crime she learned in news accounts, the earliest of which reported that he committed suicide. Not believing that, Crosby visited the prison and contacted the Winston County chapter of the NAACP for help.

"I believe if I wasn't bugging them, it would still be (classified as) a suicide," said Crosby.

Sims said Brooks wrote to her "a lot."

"Stuart was a character," she said. "He'd get along with anybody. You just had to get to know him. Yes, Stuart would react, but somebody would have had to be picking on him."

After his arrest on the sexual battery charge, Brooks was separated from other inmates in the Warren County Jail "due to his mental and physical problems," court documents show. He went through other inmates' things, struck at jailers and smeared things with urine and feces.

A psychologist at the Mississippi State Hospital at Whitfield declared Brooks competent to stand trial.

Pre-sentencing documents in Brooks' court file include the letter from his aunt as well as a 1995 psychological profile.

From an early age, Brooks had mental and emotional problems, as well as a profound speech impediment, documents show. He was first referred for treatment as a 5-year-old who was difficult to handle in the classroom; medication was prescribed. He was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and was said to be impulsive and aggressive; tests showed he was mildly retarded.

"Stuart was a profoundly troubled young man," said Mike Bonner, who was his court-appointed defense attorney in 1995. He declined to say more, citing ethical considerations.

Then-Assistant District Attorney John Bullard, who prosecuted the case, declined to comment.

In news reports following the jury's guilty verdict in 1995, Bullard was quoted as saying, "There's nothing you can do for a guy like this but lock him up." The pre-sentencing investigation, Bullard reportedly said, revealed "a complete and documented history of aggressiveness and abuse toward other children."

Vollor sentenced Brooks to the maximum term, 30 years, but Mississippi Department of Corrections released him May 27, 2010. Brooks was considered to have "flat-timed," or completed his sentence under the law, said MDOC spokesman Tara Booth.

"Under the old law (previous to the Truth-in-Sentencing bill which requires sex offenders to serve their entire sentence), he was able to earn time off his sentence," Booth said, through work, completing prison programs and other methods.

MDOC policy calls for sex offenders to be given release counseling by case managers that includes information on registering as a sex offender, she said. Case managers also typically provide information on where inmates who have no place to go can find a shelter, Booth said.

Sims and Crosby said Brooks was given a bus ticket to Vicksburg and $25, and he went to a local men's shelter. The women said they did not think he understood the requirement to register, and Sims said when she tried to help him register 10 days after his release, he was re-arrested on the spot.

In July 2010, the grand jury indicted him for failing to register as a sex offender, and Brooks pleaded guilty and was returned to the EMCF Sept. 14 to serve three years.

The facility is a private prison contracted by the MDOC.

Crosby said she purchased a transcript of the 1995 trial and the family is working on obtaining legal representation but has nothing formal yet.

"I want to see, if they knew he wasn't supposed to be there, if he was supposed to be in a mental facility, whoever is accountable for sending him there," Crosby said. "Even if it is East Mississippi Correctional Facility and not Parchman, there are still hardened criminals in there." ..Source.. by Pamela Hitchins, Vicksburg Post

MS- Murder victim was convicted sex offender

UPDATED: 5-13-2011 Killer found and prosecuted!

6-2-2009 Mississippi:

The Sun Herald has confirmed that the murder victim from a weekend shooting in Moss Point was a convicted sex offender.

The state’s Sex Offender Registry shows that Silas Miller had been convicted of three sex crimes in California since 1974. The registry lists his age as 65 and his address as the 3600 block of Barnett Street, where he was shot Saturday night.

His prior convictions were rape, assault to commit rape and child molestation.

Miller and a neighbor were shot by an unidentifiable gunman who stood in the street as he fired first at Floyd Broadnax, then at Miller, who managed to make it just inside the front door of his home before he collapsed.

Broadnax, 40, was shot in an arm. He was treated and released to custody on a charge of failing to pay old fines. Detective Sgt. Joycelyn Craig said Broadnax’ arrest was unrelated to the shooting.

Miller had been shot before in an unsolved crime. Someone shot him twice in a leg as he rode his bicycle on Martin Luther King Boulevard in August.

Craig said police need to hear from anyone with information to help solve the weekend shooting. The shooter wore black clothes, a cap and a bandana over his face.

To give a tip, call police at 475-1711 or the Moss Point Tips Line, 474-TIPS (8477). ..Source.. by ROBIN FITZGERALD

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M.P. slaying victim was California sex offender

6-2-2009 Mississippi:

A Moss Point murder victim was convicted of child molestation in 1989. In 1974, he was convicted of rape and assault to commit rape.

The state’s Sex Offender Registry shows that Silas Miller, 65, of Barnett Street in Moss Point, was convicted of the sex crimes in Los Angeles County, Calif.

Police said they know of no connection between Miller’s criminal background and the shooting that took his life and wounded a neighbor on Saturday night.

“I have no reason at this point to say that,” said Moss Point Police Sgt. Joycelyn Craig. “We are still asking the public to call in with any tips.”

An autopsy on Tuesday showed Miller died of a gunshot wound to the chest.

“He was shot only one time,” said Jackson County Coroner Vicki Broadus.

Investigators believe that Miller’s neighbor, 40-year-old Floyd Broadnax, was shot first just after he noticed Miller returning home on his bicycle. Broadnax received medical attention for an arm wound and was taken into custody on an old-fines charge.

The shooter remains unidentified. Witness accounts put the gunman in the street as he fired and walked away. Police said he wore dark clothes, a cap and a bandana that hid most of his face.

The Sex Offender Registry shows Miller has been registering in Mississippi since 2001.

He had last verified his address on April 7, less than two months before he was killed.

Miller had been shot twice in a leg while riding his bicycle in August. That crime is unsolved. ..Source.. by ROBIN FITZGERALD

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6-14-2009 Mississippi:

MOSS POINT — A convicted felon was in jail Friday, accused in the May 30 shooting death of convicted sex offender Silas Miller, 65, outside his home on Barnett Street.

Moss Point Police Chief Sheila Smallman said Henry Lee Craig, 35, of Moss Point, was arrested late Thursday night through a joint effort between the Police Department and agents with the FBI Safe Streets Task Force. She said Craig was identified as a suspect after an extensive investigation that included the help of area residents.

According to witness accounts, Craig allegedly was in the street when he fired at Miller, killing him in a single shot. Miller was outside his home at the time. Shot and injured just prior to Miller was his neighbor, 40-year-old Floyd Broadnax, who was treated and later arrested for old fines.

Authorities said Craig had a history with Miller, allegedly having shot him in the past in the leg, though authorities said Miller did not sign charges against him at the time that could’ve resulted in his arrest. Craig later denied any involvement in the earlier shooting.

In addition, authorities said Craig had an extensive criminal record, having been arrested in the past on felony charges of aggravated assault, shooting into a dwelling, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and other offenses.

At the time of his arrest Thursday, Craig was out of jail on bond. On Friday, Craig’s bond was revoked, and he was being held in Jackson County’s maximum-security jail in Pascagoula.

“The more we work together, the more criminals we’re able to take off the streets and put behind bars where they belong,” Smallman said Friday. “My immediate concern has been and remains to be the safety of family, children and businesses of the city of Moss Point as well as meeting the needs of (the) …Department.

“The Moss Point Police Department has zero tolerance to the needless crimes and drug activity in our city. We will continue in our efforts to take back our streets and neighborhoods from the criminals, and regain the trust and support of our citizens.”

Authorities, including Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd, said there also was information to suggest that Craig disliked Miller for his past troubles involving sex crimes against minors.

The state’s sex offender registry showed that Miller was convicted of child molestation in 1989.

In 1974, he was convicted of rape and assault to commit rape.

Each of the sex crime convictions occurred in Los Angeles County, Calif. ..Source.. by MARGARET BAKER

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Testimony begins in Jackson County in killing of sex offender

8-24-2010 Mississippi:

PASCAGOULA — Henry Lee Craig never liked Silas Miller, a convicted sex offender nicknamed the “Ice Cream Man,” long before Craig shot Miller to death as he was trying to get in the door of his Moss Point home, according to testimony Tuesday.

Craig is on trial for murder this week in Jackson County before Senior Circuit Judge Kathy King Jackson.

“There is no question that Henry Craig did not like Silas Miller,” Craig’s attorney Calvin Taylor said. “It all started because his (Craig’s) son was molested. He didn’t like that Silas Miller sold ice cream and lived near a school.”

Miller, 65, died of a gunshot wound to the chest May 30, 2009. Long before that — in 1974 and again in 1989 in Los Angeles County, Calif. — Miller was convicted in two separate sex-crime cases.

After serving his time for both offenses, Miller eventually returned to his family home on Barnett Street, his sister Ionia Miller said.

District Attorney Tony Lawrence put numerous witnesses on the stand Tuesday, including Floyd Broadnax, a twice-convicted felon who said Miller shot him in the arm minutes before Craig shot Miller.

Broadnax, a police officer said Tuesday, is the man Miller said had shot him before Miller was taken away in an ambulance. Broadnax has denied any involvement in the killing.

Broadnax, 42, said he first encountered Miller just before dusk while he was talking with his cousin and his cousin’s girlfriend outside his aunt’s Barnett Street home. Miller, he said, rode up on a bicycle and started making “vulgar” comments within earshot of several children.

Miller was told to leave, Broadnax said, but instead smarted off before telling him, “I’ll shoot you.’”

“Then he shoved me in the chest,” Broadnax said. “I stepped back and I gave him one (a punch),” which knocked Miller to the ground. Broadnax said he kicked Miller several times and was preparing to punch him again when Miller shot him.

Broadnax said he took off running until he realized he’d been shot and then walked back to his aunt’s house. About the same time, he said, Miller was down the street and appeared to be unlocking the front door of his home.

“That’s when I saw Mr. Craig come out of nowhere and commence to shoot,” Broadnax said.

Taylor asked Broadnax if he’d killed Miller, but Broadnax denied the allegation.

Several other witnesses said they saw a man dressed in dark pants, a light-colored shirt and a hat standing in front of Miller’s home. Then, they said, they saw the same man turn and start walking away. The witnesses said they believe Craig was that man. ..Source.. by MARGARET BAKER - mbbaker@sunherald.com

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Jury convicts man in sex offender’s killing

5-11-2011 Mississippi:

PASCAGOULA -- A Jackson County jury deliberated for fewer than four hours Wednesday before finding Henry Lee Craig of Moss Point guilty of murder in the May 30, 2009, shooting death of sex offender Silas Miller.

Senior Circuit Judge Kathy King Jackson sentenced Craig to life in prison to run consecutively to the remainder of a 12-year sentence he’s serving for shooting into Miller’s home in 2007. No one was injured in that incident.

The Jackson County District Attorney’s Office said Craig told agents with the FBI Safe Streets Task Force after the killing he was glad Miller was dead because he didn’t consider him a human being.

“Mr. Craig decided to be the judge, jury and executioner in this case,” Assistant District Attorney Bobby Knochel said Wednesday. “No one is above the law and Henry Craig learned that today.”

Craig first went to trial on the murder charge in August 2010, but jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict, resulting in a mistrial.

Several witnesses identified Craig as the man they saw shoot Miller, 67, as he was attempting to go inside his house on Barnett Street in Moss Point.

When authorities arrived, Miller was still alive and told authorities another man, twice-convicted felon Floyd Broadnax, had shot him. Just prior to Miller being shot, he had gotten into an argument with Broadnax, and Miller had shot Broadnax in the arm.

Broadnax has testified he ran away once he was shot but later saw Miller attempting to go into his house. Broadnax fingered Craig as the man who shot Miller. Witnesses said Craig thought Miller was responsible for a recent rape of a then-7-year-old girl. Miller’s son, Maurice Miller, was convicted in that case.

Craig and Miller had several run-ins prior to the fatal shooting, including the 2007 shooting incident at Miller’s home. Craig has been serving his sentence for shooting into Miller’s home since his arrest in the murder.

District Attorney Tony Lawrence described Craig as a “dangerous individual,” with convictions for armed robbery, kidnapping and shooting into an occupied dwelling. ..Source.. by MARGARET BAKER