Reginald Rogers heads to the Warren County Courthouse. (Brian Loden The Vicksburg Post)

[1/28/05] An accused gunman who survived a fatal shootout in a downtown nightclub was told this morning he faces a manslaughter indictment, the charge reduced from murder.

Reginald Rogers, 27, 2404 Railroad Alley, was also arraigned on two counts of aggravated assault in the Aug. 2 shooting that left 32-year-old Danny Woodland of 1807 Main St. dead.

Police have said Woodland and Rogers exchanged gunfire in the Hill Top Lounge at 1515 Washington St. The cafe was closed the night of the shooting and has not reopened.

Police booked Rogers, who was wounded, for murder. After hearing the case this week, grand jurors, however, decided on the lesser charge, District Attorney Gil Martin said. The sentence for murder is life in prison without parole. Manslaughter carries a 20-year maximum.

Four other people were injured when gunfire erupted in the crowded club. Investigators believe two were wounded by shots from Woodland and Rogers, Martin said. The two counts of aggravated assault are for the two people wounded by shots from Rogers, he added.

Judge Isadore Patrick ordered that Rogers continue to be held without bond and set an Aug. 29 trial date in the case.

Also indicted was the man accused of damaging a Warren County church building by causing a bulldozer to plow through it.

On Thursday, Zane Eugene Bearrick, 21, 160 Bridlewood Road, was arraigned on an indictment for felony malicious mischief in the Oct. 30 damage to First Assembly of Yahweh Vicksburg, 3820 U.S. 80.

Martin has said he believes the damage was racially motivated. Bearrick is white, and the congregation’s members are black.

Martin has said he will treat the case as a hate crime under the state’s 1994 law that allows a doubling of criminal penalties for such acts. The maximum penalty in the case is 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.

Bearrick remained in jail on $100,000 bond.

In a second homicide, Alexander Lee Herrington, 20, 200 Cain Ridge Road, is accused of manslaughter in the Sept. 13 fatal stabbing of his father, Mark Herrington, who was 38 and lived at the same address.

Herrington was free on bond pending trial.

Thirteen other people were also arraigned Thursday:

Thomas Ray Arnold, 18, 270 Highway 610, Winnslow, La., burglary of a church, forgery and attempted forgery.

Milton Roy Brown, 46, 411 Archer, Jackson, manufacturing methamphetamine and possession of precursors to methamphetamine.

Joseph Lee Geter, 28, 400 Clark Road, two counts of sexual battery of a victim under age 14.

Rossi Deon Gray, 29, 1310 Wood St., possession of cocaine.

Derrick Romon Hall, 23, 150 Elizabeth Circle, kidnapping.

Anthony Lamar Holmes, 32, 219 Overlook Drive, possession of a weapon after a felony conviction.

Tyrone Jackson, 25, 44 Taylor St., embezzlement.

James Edward Loper, 31, 1102 Oak St., Mobile, Ala., larceny of a motor vehicle.

John Charles McGrigg, 41, 2230 Lane St., rape.

Walter O’Neal Mims, 39, 2427 Oak St., burglary and grand larceny.

Petra Nicole Netter, 21, 909 1/2 Bowman St., two indictments, one for shooting into a home and another for aggravated assault with extreme indifference.

Rudy Terrell Smith, 29, 605 Cain Ridge Road, No. L8, burglary of a vehicle and grand larceny.

Christopher Lyndell Wallace, 27, 80C Waltersville St., aggravated assault and kidnapping.