Vicksburg High School seniors D’Eldrick Taylor, left, and Phelan Gray recount the events of a shooting at a birthday party Saturday night on Halls Ferry Road after which 22-year-old Jimmie Taylor died. (The Vicksburg Post/Melanie Duncan)

[10/29/02]The attorney for a deputy sheriff whose gunshot killed a 22-year-old says the officer acted in self-defense, but a family member and witness said Jimmie Taylor was handcuffed when the shot was fired.

It may be up to forensic scientists to settle very different versions of what took place Saturday night outside a home on Halls Ferry Road.

Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace identified the deputy who has been placed on leave with pay as Lionel Johnson, 27, a six-year veteran of the department and a former U.S. air marshal.

Pace said Johnson and another deputy responded to a 911 call about a crowd gathered at the Taylor home, 4808 Halls Ferry, because cars were blocking the street.

There, the officers had a conflict involving Jimmie Taylor and his younger brother, Maurice, 17.

“It’s a clear case of self-defense,” said David Sessums, attorney for Johnson. Sessums was retained although Johnson faces no charges. “We’re looking forward to the investigation being complete,” he said.

A cousin, D’Eldrick Taylor, a senior at Vicksburg High School and among many football team members at the scene, said things were fine at what was Maurice Taylor’s birthday party until deputies arrived.

“They came in looking for trouble and when nobody gave him any trouble, he started it,” D’Eldrick Taylor said.

Phelan Gray, another football player at the party, gave the same account of the night’s activities as D’Eldrick.

Partygoers moved their cars off the road as requested, but D’Eldrick Taylor said Johnson still had a problem and “got smart” with Jimmie Taylor’s mother, Claudia Taylor. That’s when the scuffle that led to the shooting began, he said.

Sessums said Johnson attempted to arrest Jimmie Taylor for disturbing the peace, but his mother, Claudia Taylor, got “physically violent” with Johnson and Jimmie Taylor and his brother went after the officer.

“He was knocked down several times as he was trying to get back to his cruiser,” Sessums said.

According to Sessums, Jimmie Taylor began choking Johnson and someone took away the officer’s flashlight, the same one reportedly used to hit Maurice Taylor in the head. Sessums said that was when Johnson pulled his 9-mm pistol and shot Jimmie Taylor. The father of 5- and 15-month-old daughters died about 7 p.m. Sunday at River Region Medical Center where he was an emergency room employee.

D’Eldrick Taylor’s version was completely different. He said Jimmie Taylor had been put in handcuffs and was on the ground when shot.

Gray, who said he was standing near Jimmie Taylor when the shooting occurred, said another deputy at the scene, who had been separated from Johnson, pulled a gun from his cruiser and aimed at the crowd. He did not fire, Gray said.

The second deputy has not been identified.

“This is going to make teenagers scared of police,” he said. “They’re supposed to help you.”

Sessums said Johnson did not handcuff Jimmie Taylor and that the deputy had hit his emergency call button when things began escalating. Police and sheriff’s department hand-held radios are equipped with a button to notify 911 dispatchers when an officer is in trouble.

Warren County Coroner John Thomason said an autopsy scheduled for Monday night was delayed, but did say the single gunshot wound entered just above the left thigh. Thomason also said Taylor’s clothes have been taken to the state crime lab by Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol investigators who are conducting the investigation and say dozens of people will be interviewed.

Without the clothes, pathologists including Dr. Steven Hayne ran a “battery” of tests including looking for traces of metal on Jimmie Taylor’s wrists. Thomason said the clothes will also be tested.

“We were unable to tell conclusively (if he was in handcuffs) and that’s why they want to look at the clothes,” Thomason said, adding he is confident that the forensic evidence will show if Jimmie Taylor was ever placed in handcuffs.

There are no reports of other weapons at the scene or other shots being fired.

Lt. Col. Jim Boxx, who is heading the state’s investigation, said there is much to do. “We’ll probably be there all week interviewing people,” Boxx said.

Vicksburg High School Coach Alonzo Stevens said he went to the hospital after the shooting to offer support to the family.

Stevens said that Maurice Taylor, who was treated at the hospital for a head injury, was in handcuffs when he arrived.

“I don’t understand how something as easy as parking cars got that out of hand. It doesn’t make sense,” Stevens said. “This is tragic and we are trying to get through it.”

Authorities detained the teenager along with another unidentified adult from the party, but they were later released without charges, Pace said.

District Attorney Gil Martin said he expects to present the case for citizen review by grand jurors, perhaps in January, after the investigation is complete.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Taylor family and also to Deputy Johnson and his family,” Pace said.

Jimmie Taylor was a former football player at Vicksburg High. He’d had a run-in with police when he was arrested and charged with armed robbery in 1997.

The charges were later reduced to trespassing, a misdemeanor, and he was sentenced to six months in jail. The jail sentence was suspended and Taylor was on probation for two years.