Tuesday July 9,
2013
50 cents
Daily Corinthian Vol. 117, No. 162
T-storms Today
Tonight
92
73
20% chance of rain
• Corinth, Mississippi • 16 pages • 1 Section
Collision claims teen Prentiss man BY JEFF YORK For the Daily Corinthian
GUYS, Tenn. — A 16-yearold Adamsville High School student died as a result of injuries suffered in an accident on Saturday in Guys. The wreck involved a truck and a fourwheeler with three people injured in addition to the fatality. Bryan D. Irons, of Guys, Tenn., was the person who died in the wreck. He would have been a junior at Adamsville this fall after going to elementary school at Michie. Irons was driving a 2005 Kawaski ATV that failed to yield to
a 1999 Ford F150 truck driven by James A. Thompson, 26, of Guys, Tenn., that was southbound on Sticine Road in Guys. Irons’ four-wheeler pulled into the path of Thompson’s truck causing the accident that happened at 2:55 p.m. on Saturday. Thompson and his passenger, Amanda L. Barber, 23, of Selmer, Tenn. were both injured in the wreck with undisclosed injuries in the accident report filed by the Tennessee Highway Patrol. A 4-year-old child in the truck was properly restrained and was uninjured. Thompson and Barber both had on their
seatbelts. Irons was not wearing a helmet, but the THP officer did not think it would have changed the outcome of this accident. A juvenile was on the four-wheeler with Irons and was injured. The Michie School student is now listed in stable condition at The Med in Memphis. “Bryan and I were real close,” said Nathaniel Root, head boys basketball coach/teacher at AHS. “He would light up a room and always had a smile on his face. If you were having Please see TEEN | A2
dies in wreck BY BRANT SAPPINGTON bsappington@dailycorinthian.com
A single-vehicle crash claimed the life of a Prentiss County man Saturday. Timmy “Tim” Elrod, 55, was killed when his vehicle left Prentiss County Road 5031 (Meadowcreek Road) early Saturday. Sheriff Randy Tolar said Elrod apparently lost control of the vehicle in the sharp curve near Old
Hodges Cemetery. Elrod’s vehicle careened off the roadway and came to rest in the cemetery. Tolar said Elrod died at the scene of the crash. He was not wearing a seatbelt. Funeral services for Elrod were held Monday in Red Bay, Ala. Immediate survivors include two sons, T.J. Elrod and Please see WRECK | A2
Rep. Bain will file Andrew Loyd Bill to help children BY BOBBY J. SMITH bjsmith@dailycorinthian.com
District 2 Rep. Nick Bain is authoring a bill designed to help protect the children of mentally ill parents. The Andrew Loyd Bill seeks to prevent the kind of tragedy that took the life of its namesake, the 11-year-old Farmington boy who was shot and killed by his father shortly before his father fatally turned the gun on himself.
Loyd’s father had a history of mental health issues and had been treated at local mental health facilities before the October 2012 shooting. Bain said the bill will be a collaborative effort, the product of his talks with a range of people with expertise on the subject or connections to the Andrew Loyd tragedy. “Working on the bill, I’ve talked with mental health people here and in Jackson, law en-
forcement in Farmington and, most importantly, the family about how to do this,” Bain said. “We want to honor Andrew and make sure he didn’t die in vain.” Here’s how the proposed bill will work. If a parent with sole custody of a child is admitted to a mental health facility, the bill will require the Department of Human Services to conduct a home study within a specified amount of time to determine if
the child is in need of protection. “We want to do everything possible to protect the children,” said Bain. “Our overall goal is to try to protect the children in these situations without intruding on the personal privacy of adults or costing the DHS or taxpayers money.” The bill is currently in the drafting stage. It will go through a vetting process with mental health and law enforcement officials, as well as the family of
Andrew Loyd before it will be introduced in the House. Bain plans to file the bill before the deadline in mid-January 2014. Between now and then he plans to continue talking to individuals about what the bill should be and to talk to special interest groups that focus on protecting children to drum up some extra support for the bill. “Basically, we want to honor Andrew and make sure he didn’t die in vain,” said Bain.
Docket has murder case BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
The docket is set for the upcoming July term of Alcorn County Circuit Court. The term is set to begin July 22 and will continue through the week of Aug. 12. The court also has plea and revocation days scheduled on July 16 and 17. Among those on the docket is Demarlen O. Davis, accused of murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in the March 26 shooting death of Karson Stewart, 22, of Sawyer Road. The shooting happened on Martin Luther King Drive as Stewart sat in a vehicle in front of a vacant residence. Davis was standing next to the vehicle when officers arrived. Stewart was shot in the face with a .32-caliber weapon. Police believe Stewart was seated in the passenger seat when the shooting occurred. The docket includes a child pornography case in which
Patrick Goad is charged with seven counts of possession of the illegal materials. The sheriff’s department made the arrest in June 2012 after receiving information that Goad was possibly downloading the materials and after his computer was analyzed. Herman Lee Shook, a Prentiss County man accused of firing a gun outside the Malco theater in Corinth in March, is on the docket for aggravated assault. In a domestic argument in the parking lot, Shook fired a round that ricocheted off a vehicle. Candice McCollum appears on the docket for armed robbery and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. In April, she and her brother were arrested for gaining entry to an East Third Street residence and demanding a man’s medication while pointing his own gun at him. About 250 defendants are listed on the July-August docket.
Staff photo by Steve Beavers
Mid-South Project Package Coordinator Rickey Pope (from left), VFW Post 3962 Commander Bill Parker and Corinth Alderman Chip Wood box items to be sent to soldiers.
VFW Post 3962 starts drop point for Mid-South Project Package BY STEVE BEAVERS sbeavers@dailycorinthian.com
Someone cares. VFW Post 3962 and MidSouth Project Package is teaming up to let soldiers in combat zones know just that. Post 3962 recently began a partnership with the organization by becoming a drop place for items to be sent to deployed service personnel from the midsouth area. “It is great the VFW has got involved and is assisting with the project,” said MS Project Package Coordinator and Founder Rickey Pope. “Our goal is to send a package to every soldier in the area each month.” Through the past nine years, the non-profit and volunteer or-
ganization has sent over 30,000 donated items to soldiers. Presently, the group sends out 475 packages each month. “It is our way of letting them know we have not forgotten and how much we appreciate them,” added Pope. “Our biggest problem is getting addresses of those we want to send a package.” Post 3962, located at 1 Purdy School Road, will be accepting items from a wish list every Friday. Monetary donations will also be accepted with members of the VFW Men’s and Ladies Auxiliary available to help donors. “Every penny collected goes to mail the packages,” said Pope.
Each package contains items from $25-$30. Cost to mail one package is $12. Corinth Alderman Chip Wood was one of the soldiers to receive a care package while stationed as a Navy Seabee in Afghanistan. “When an organization like this sends a package, it lets soldiers know how important they are,” said Wood. “A lot of times they are forgotten, but through this they are remembered.” Corinth Mayor Tommy Irwin signed a proclamation honoring the VFW and Mid-South Project Package for their effort in drawing attention to those serving on foreign soil.
Index Stocks........8 Classified......14 Comics........ 9 State........ 5
Weather...... 10 Obituaries........ 6 Opinion........4 Sports...... 12
Please see PROJECT | A2
‘Duck Dynasty’ tickets offered BY STEVE BEAVERS sbeavers@dailycorinthian.com
Hey, Jack!, tickets go on sale today. The public can get their tickets to see A&E “Duck Dynasty” stars Willie Robertson and son John Luke beginning today at the Crossroads Arena. The two are scheduled to be part of the “Kids and Family Day” being co-hosted by the Arena and Alcorn County Fair. A 5 p.m. show is set for the final day of the fair on Sept. 21. Tickets to see the Robertsons include comp attendance to the Saturday fair only. Prices are $78 for the first five rows, $53 for the next five rows, $33 for remaining floor seats and $23 for riser seating. All seats are reserved and include a service charge. Tickets purchased online are an additional $1.50 per
ticket. Those wishing to have their tickets mailed will be charged $5 per order. The Robertsons have gained a cult following since the series debuted in March of 2012. A&E’s most-watched series features the West Monroe, La., family living the American dream while operating a thriving business and remaining true to their family values. Willie, the third son of Phil and Kay Robertson, is now the CEO of Duck Commander – a company that makes products for duck hunters and founded by Phil in 1973. Season 4 of the popular series is set to premiere Aug. 14 with the eldest son, Alan Robertson, joining the cast. The Season 3 finale was the highest-rated telecast in A&E history as 9.6 million viewers watched the show. The Arena Box Office is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday.
On this day in history 150 years ago Gen. Franklin Gardner surrenders the Confederate bastion at Port Hudson, LA. The last Southern stronghold on the Mississippi River is lost with 6,400 men following a forty-seven day siege. President Lincoln states, “The Father of Waters again goes unvexed to the sea.”