[1/25/04]Evidence in a September fatal shooting near Vicksburg High School will be presented to the grand jurors meeting this week at the Warren County Courthouse.

The case is one of 50 scheduled for grand jurors consideration for indictment, District Attorney Gil Martin said Friday. He said the number is smaller than usual.

Walter Jefferson, 20, 202 Cain Ridge Road, was charged with capital murder in the Sept. 10 shooting death of O’Dare Lee Earl Mims, 20, 2807 Arcadia St.

The shooting happened about 2:30 p.m. outside the field houses at Vicksburg High School’s Memorial Stadium off Drummond and Lee streets. The stadium is across the street from the school’s main classroom buildings, but many students were headed to extracurricular activities there when the shot was fired.

Any rumors that the shooting was a drive-by or gang-related are untrue, Martin said.

“It was a personal matter between them,” Martin said.

Though Jefferson remains formally charged with capital murder, the decision whether to pursue that charge through an indictment will ultimately be made by a grand jury, Martin said. If indicted for and convicted of capital murder, Jefferson could receive life in prison without parole or the death penalty.

Another option for grand jurors would be to indict Jefferson for murder. The mandatory sentence for murder is life in prison.

Jefferson is also accused of the separate charge of possessing a weapon on school property, Martin said.

Jefferson remains in the Warren County Jail.

Six cases involving allegations of aggravated assault are also to be presented to the grand jury, Martin said. Most of the victims of those crimes were either shot or stabbed, he said.

In one of the cases, two men were injured in Aug. 3 shootings near Clay and First North streets.

Roommates Clayton Trammel, 24, and David Harzfield, 20, both of 95 Givens Road, were injured after gunfire erupted at about 10 p.m.

Derrick Paige, 20, 1320 Second North St., was arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated assault. He is free on $20,000 bond.

In other cases of violence to be presented, two involve defendants accused of kidnapping, including one that also includes a rape charge and one that involves an accusation of armed robbery.

Despite that “fair amount” of violent crime, however, this week’s grand jury will hear fewer cases than normal for this time of year, Martin said.

This is the first of four sessions scheduled for this year. The others are set for May 3, July 19 and Oct. 18.

Warren County Circuit Court Judge Frank Vollor is to preside over this week’s session, Martin said. It is expected to end Wednesday, one day earlier than usual, Martin said.

“Overall, crime is down from what we’ve been experiencing,” Martin said, citing records showing the number of homicides dropped from eight in 2002 to four in 2003. No homicides have been reported so far this year.

Twenty-four of the cases to be presented, about half, involve the sale or possession of drugs, Martin said. Of those, 16 involve possession or possession with intent to sell drugs, and eight involve drug sales, all of cocaine, Martin said.

Of the drug-possession cases, seven involve possession of methamphetamine, he added.

“Meth continues to move up as one of the most frequent charges we see,” he said.