[11/27/04]John Applin is a little slow to talk about what happened six years ago, but says he now keeps three guns in his small boot shop on Openwood Street, all within a couple of steps.

While the large, metal gate in front of the doors went up five years ago, the guns are a new addition to the store’s inventory added since the release of the man convicted of beating Applin in 1998.

That man pleaded guilty to robbery and aggravated assault four days into his 2000 trial and was sentenced to eight years in prison. He was released under the earned-release supervision program Aug. 30 after serving about six years.

“I ain’t seen him and I don’t want to see him,” Applin said. But, “I’ve got my gun waiting on him if he comes.”

Applin, now 68, is planning to sell Openwood Boot & Shoe Repair at 1127 Openwood St., the shop his father started 40 years ago, but he has such fear of another attack that he declines to have his photo taken.

Applin was working alone on June 25, 1998, when two teens, 19, and 17, entered the store around 2 p.m. and beat Applin with a boot. The pair made off with $250 and Applin’s badge from his days with the Vicksburg Fire Department. They left him bleeding on the floor of his shop.

Witnesses called police when they saw Applin stumble onto the sidewalk outside. He was taken to the hospital, where he received 120 stitches to wounds across his face and head.

The scar just above his left eye still tells the story.

“I thought I was dead,” Applin later testified.

Applin said he was never given the opportunity to comment before the teen who was convicted was released. The 17-year-old was deemed incompetent to stand trial after a mental evaluation.

Applin said he had planned to leave the store to his son, but his son died in a car wreck several years ago. Now, health is an issue for Applin.

So, once he sells the shop, Applin will buy a travel trailer and head north.

“I’m going to miss it, but I’m getting old and I can’t hardly thread that needle any more,” he said.

The Warren County District Attorney’s Office had recommended 17 years in prison for the 19-year-old, and District Attorney Gil Martin said he had no control over his release.

“I’d say he served the amount of time under Mississippi Department of Correction policy that he was suppose to,” Martin said.

The teen had been sentenced to 12 years with four years suspended. Under MDOC rules, he was eligible for release after serving 85 percent of his time.

Under the earned release supervision program, he can be sent back to prison for the remainder of his sentence if an administrative hearing finds that he violates the terms of his release.

Though 19, he had a record including an arrest in March 1998 for possession of a gun on school property and in January 1997 for burglary and grand larceny. The gun charge was dismissed and he was sentenced to 60 months of probation for the burglary.

In a videotaped interview with police the day of his arrest, the 19-year-old admitted that he was in the boot store, but said the 17-year-old had been the one who injured Applin.

The younger teen spent about two years in Whitfield State Mental Hospital and was released. Assistant District Attorney John Bullard, who originally prosecuted the case, said that the charges against the younger teen are still pending.

“Should he show himself to be competent then I can try him, but I can’t as long as he is incompetent,” Bullard said.