Mississippi police murder major college fooball recruit...maybe

OK, Columbo, give us your version.

And it has to account for the fact that only 68 seconds elapsed from one radio call to the next and the fact that eyewitnesses say the cop was sitting in his patrol car when Billy Joe fell out of the truck.

 

I think some people want to believe in their heart of hearts that a kid can not and would not kill himself.

My guess as to why the "evidence was destroyed" is that it was a pretty clear-cut suicide and therefore in the officers' minds there was no need for further investigation.

People who still don't believe the kid killed himself or accidentally shot himself need to read the grand jury report. Despite piss-poor journalism by those Yahoos at Yahoo, the officer in question's uniform was in fact tested on Dec. 8, 2008 and found no traces of blood or tissue on the uniform. Photographs of the officer's uniform, his hands and his body were also presented as evidence, as was two dashboard camera videos from officers arriving for assistance. Eyewitnesses passing the scene say they saw the officer sitting in his car as the body fell out of the truck.

I'm betting, though, that none of these Johnny-come-latelys that jumped on the story months after it happened won't bother clearly up their shoddy, agenda-driven attempts at investigative journalism.

 

Yes, but I sense something else at work ... black kid, Mississippi, the white cop must have shot him. If so, then justice needs to be done, of course,

If not, it's shameful that a family's pain is being exploited.

 

Yahoo linked the AP story on their main sports panel above their own story, but I don't anticipate them doing much more. I agree, Stagger, that it is pretty clear now that he shot himself. And I have no reason to defend Yahoo, but I don't see the problem with their story. They tried to tell it from both perspectives, and there was clearly a feeling among many in the town that something was amiss. The family was talking and the police weren't. They pointed out the shoddy police work, and it's pretty clear that there were a lot of missteps. I'm sure the police didn't want too much to get out before the grand jury heard it, but I think Yahoo just reported what they knew/were able to find out. Despite this thread's title, I don't think the linked story implies that Billey Joe was murdered ... just that the question is out there. Sure, the story is a bit sensationalistic, but it's easy to say now that the story is wrong.
And HH, I'm not sure what you mean. Who is exploiting the family's pain? Seems to me they wanted justice and wanted the story out there.

 

All I'm saying is what I said:
The outcome of the grand jury investigation was predictable, based on all that's happened previously in this case.
I posted a few pages back, there was really no hard evidence to suggest any wrongdoing.

 

You're right, I guess I'm just venting about the thread title, which I agree with Buck was/is very speculative. I understand what the guys at Yahoo were doing, but I also understand the police department's silence on the issue. When there's an investigation going on, it's pretty standard procedure for police departments to not comment on cases. Leaking out any information could damage the case on both sides.

 

The usual vultures, including – in this case – the AP.

 

OK, here's my take. I'm fairly close to the situation, having seen Billey Joe play a couple of times over the past couple of seasons.

First, I just never put much stock in the suicide theory, because of the type of player he was. He was a hard-nosed runner, very determined, loved contact and was all but unstoppable in short yardage. The games I saw, he and the quarterback (a tall, wiry kid named Spivery) just about singlehandedly kept George County in games they had no business being in. I just don't think someone with those attributes takes their own life, especially on the spur of the moment like that.

Second, I don't believe the investigation was "botched." I believe they knew the explosive nature of what they were dealing with, plus they were aware of state's reputation, and were meticulous to a fault. The authorities didn't want there to be any hint of a cover-up or anyone to think that their man was involved. This is 2009, not 1959, and this is not Jim Crow Mississippi. If the evidence had led to the conclusion that the deputies were in any way involved, I believe they would have prosecuted any and all of them to the fullest. They took their time to do a complete investigation and kept their mouths shut in order not to have the thing played out in the media. I don't know if that was the right approach, but that's the way they chose to play it. In the end, I think they came to the right conclusion.

 

I assure you, don't think that. Suicide is a strange beast. You NEVER know.

 

OK, no offense, but just because you saw the kid play a few times does NOT make you close - muchless fairly close - to the situation.
Not. Even. In. The. Ball. Park.
Your observances of the situation from having seen the kid play make you about as informed as everybody else. Maybe less so, compared to the people who have actually read some stories on the subject.

When it comes to kids and suicide, Hell, suicide in general. You don't know.

 

but, at the same time, if wrongdoing is even a possibility, there should be a serious investigation. i don't have much faith in southern law.

 

So, you're saying a highly rated high school football recruit dying under these circumstances isn't newsworthy? I don't dispute that it has a bit of a sensationalistic feel, but it's a good story that all of us on this thread took time to read. I see nothing wrong with Yahoo/SI/whoever giving national attention to a story like this. And I imagine the parents thought it would help to get their side of the story out there. I don't think it's exploitating their pain.