Evidence against the man accused of killing Walter Cole, retired assistant Vicksburg police chief, is sufficient to show there was probable cause for his arrest, and the case will move next to a Warren County grand jury, Circuit Judge M. James Chaney ruled Wednesday.

Tyler Lee Smith, 51, 3105 N. Washington St., was charged Nov. 6 with capital murder in the shooting death of Cole on July 23, 2008. If indicted by a grand jury, Smith faces a jury trial and, possibly, execution.

Any person accused of a felony can request a preliminary hearing. Such hearings are rare, however, and are limited to the question of probable cause for arrest.

Smith is represented by Mike Bonner of Vicksburg and Jim Lappan of the Jackson firm Capital Defense Counsel. Lappan argued that none of the evidence cited in police investigator Johnnie Edwards’ testimony directly linked Smith to Cole’s murder or to the robbery charge Smith also faces. In addition, he questioned the 15-month lag between Cole’s death and an unidentified informant coming forward to provide information leading to Smith’s arrest.

Assistant District Attorney Dewey Arthur also questioned Edwards, the prosecution’s only witness at Wednesday’s hearing, which had been postponed from Dec. 22. Edwards testified video surveillance from a local convenience store shows Smith and Cole in a heated argument a short time before Cole was killed.

Edwards testified that the informant told police just before Smith’s arrest that Smith had been in possession of two items belonging to Cole, a ring and a 38-caliber handgun. The thefts had not been made public.

Smith had been a suspect in the days following the murder and had been questioned by police and released, Edwards said. The informant’s statement gave police what they needed to make the arrest, he said.

Cole, who was 75, was found in his car, parked at Pittman Road and Railroad Avenue, around 8:30 a.m. after a search by his uncle, Willie Jordan, 87.

In other court action Wednesday, former Warren Central High School basketball star Sha’ Kayla Caples, arrested in May for armed robbery, appeared to request a court-appointed attorney. Chaney appointed Liem Walker of Vicksburg to represent Caples.

The case against Caples has not been presented to the grand jury for indictment.

The next Warren County grand jury will convene Jan. 25.

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Contact Pamela Hitchins at phitchins@vicksburgpost.com