Officer Lee's Death Reaches 8th Year Oct. 17

MOSS POINT -- Sunday, Oct. 17, will mark the anniversary of the death of Police Officer Larry DeWayne Lee, who was 42 years old when he died that Thursday night in 2002.

Officer Lee, who had served 14 years in law enforcement, was killed when his patrol vehicle was hit head-on by a suspect driving a Chevy Blazer as he was being pursued near the high-rise bridge on Mississippi 63.

Officer Lee was thrown 200 feet and died at the scene, according to news reports at the time.

Lee had served with the Moss Point Police Department six years and eight years with the Jackson County Sheriff's Department.

Guardsmen Visit Courthouse Coffee

Lt. Scott White and Lt. Cmdr. Mike Pierno with the U.S. Coast Guard visit Courthouse Coffee in Downtown Pascagoula on Oct. 12.

Assistant Teacher Dies During Wreck in Florida

MOSS POINT -- Assistant teacher Marva Johnson died Friday, Oct. 8, following a vehicle wreck near Jacksonville, Fla.

Johnson, an assistant teacher at Singing River Elementary School in Gautier, was the wife of Deputy Police Chief Bobby Johnson, who traveled to Florida after learning about the morning accident. According to a city official, Marva Johnson had been visiting swith her daughter, Bobbye Jo, since Wednesday.

Details of the wreck were unavailable. Funeral plans are pending upon return of family members to Moss Point. Mayor Aneice Liddell said Friday that the Johnsons have other family members in Jacksonville.

Corporal Laid to Rest 66 Years After His Death

SAPETA, Miss. -- It took 66 years, but Cpl. Judge Clayton Hellums finally made it back home.

Hellums, 28, was killed Oct. 9, 1944, when a German rocket struck his M10 tank in Lorraine, France, during World War II.

He was among three of five soldiers who died from the attack, though military officials had listed him missing in action. His remains were found four years ago.

Hellums was buried Saturday, Oct. 9, 2010, at the Shady Grove Cemetery outside Bruce, Miss., with state National Guard members carrying his casket to its resting place.


(Information gathered from the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal and some AP reports.)

Breaking News: Wife of Deputy Chief Dies

MOSS POINT – City officials learned late this morning that the wife of Deputy Chief Bobby Johnson died following a vehicle wreck in Florida.

Mrs. Johnson, whose first name was unavailable for this report, was in Jacksonville on Friday visiting with her daughter, who also was involved in the vehicle accident but was not hurt, according to Mayor Aneice Liddell. She said the deputy chief wife’s had been in Florida since Wednesday.

Apparently, Mrs. Johnson was reported to have been doing well after the wreck but died later at an area hospital.

Further details about the cause of her death and the accident itself were not known for this report.

Mayor Aneice Liddell said Deputy Chief Johnson was on his way to Jacksonville when he learned that his wife had passed away. She said Johnson and his daughter have other family members who live in Jacksonville.

Johnson's wife was always supportive of her husband, and attended any and every function that involved the deputy chief, the mayor said. "He and his wife did everything together. They were very close."

Liddell said another officer from the Moss Point Police Department probably would travel to Jacksonville to help Johnson make the return trip to the city, but exact plans depend on continuing circumstances surrounding his spouse's death.

"We are waiting to see what his needs are," she said around midday Friday.

Law Enforcement Academy Graduates Katrina Class

BILOXI -- The first law enforcement class to graduate here since Hurricane Katrina marched today at the Harrison County Law Enforcement Training Academy, according to media reports.

Next class begins Jan. 03

It has been five years since the academy was in South Mississippi, returning this summer after moving from Long Beach when the storm damaged the campus of University of South Mississippi at Gulf Park. Until June, the academy was at Camp Shelby outside Hattiesburg.

Eleven cadets graduated in today's ceremony, according to news from www.wlox.com

Fireman Fights Fire at His Own Home, Saves Photos

"It's a weird feeling. ... I never thought I'd see the day I'd have to respond to a fire at my own house." -- Firefighter Woodrow McCarthy

MOSS POINT -- Woodrow McCarthy had to shake the shock and temporary paralysis from his mind and body when the emergency call came from the police dispatcher on Sunday afternoon.

As part of normal procedure to make sure firefighters have heard the correct address, they asked the dispatcher to again give the location of the house fire that was burning at 4507 Third Street.

He'd heard right the first time: His house was on fire.

"It was shock. Then you have that kind of mini-paralysis," he said about midday Monday.

The Moss Point homeowner was among about city personnel who rushed to the scene to put out the blaze in temperatures also ablaze in an ongoing heatwave. Three firefighters suffered heat exhaustion and were taken to the county hospital. They were treated and released.

Three Firefighters Overcome by Heat Working House Fire

www.gulflive.com/themississippipress on Monday, July 09, 2010

"Three got heat exhaustion, but everybody pulled together and we did what we do. Nobody gave up on it," said the firefighter.

"It's a weird feeling. As many house fires as we respond to I never thought I'd have to respond to my own house," he said. "It's like that old saying, you have to laugh to keep from crying."

For just a moment, tears fell from his eyes and those of his wife's, Juanita, on Monday as they and other relatives went through burned furniture, smoke-damaged clothing, and photographs, even more precious now. Son Woodrow Jr. hugged his parents.

Fire inspector Robert Lavinghouse has said the house was a totally destroyed by fire and smoke. He estimated the older house sustained between $80,000 and $100,000 in damage.

"It appears to be an electrical short in the bedroom," said Lavinghouse.

McCarthy said he called his wife after the dispatcher reiterated the Third Street location. He'd wanted to make sure his family was okay. She'd made the 911 call when she and the children returned home from church about 2 p.m. to find the house on fire.

"When we pulled up from church they went in," said Juanita McCarthy. "As I was coming up on the porch they ran and met me saying the room was on fire. It was my daughter's room."

Chandorria McCarthy is 15; brother Kedarrius is 13 and Woodrow Jr. is 12.

Her emotions took over for a while. "I was just hysterical. I had to pull myself together because my children were hysterical."

After calling 911 she got a call from her husband.

"I said, 'Baby our house is on fire. Baby, it's burning, burning!' He said, 'I'm on my way, I'm on my way.' He said when he came he was stunned."

Charred Home in Moss Point Belonged to A Fireman

www.wlox.com on Sunday, August 08, 2010

It took about eight hours to completely douse the fire, which was contained between 8 and 9 p.m., they said.

A unit from the Moss Point Fire Department, along with Lavinghouse and fire Chief Mike Dale returned to the scene Monday morning to check the attic and to determine the cause of the fire.

The McCarthy's and their younger son spent Monday with relatives outside at the house, finding shade under trees in the yard. Tears and relief were mixed as they were grateful to find many family photographs still intact.

"That to me was special. My twin was killed in a wreck years ago," said Juanita McCarthy. I was worried about the pictures I had of her that I had saved over the years."

She also found many mementos of school achievements earned by the children. She said the loss of furniture, clothes and other household items could be replaced.

"Thank God for my husband and children," the mother said.

Guardsman a Robbery Suspect, Suicide Victim

A young man suspected in a fast-food robbery in Slidell, La., and found dead after an vehicle wreck in Hancock County has been identified as a 24-year-old National guardsman, according to media reports.

I-10 Suicide Identified As National Guard member

www.wlox.com

Authorities named John Paul Loupe of LaPlace, La., as the person found following a one-vehicle wreck near Diamondhead. A pathologist has ruled the death a suicide after the guardsman was discovered with a gunshot wound to the head.

Lady at the Helm of George County Sheriff Department

LUCEDALE -- Debbie Welford pledged to do her best in honor of her husband, Sheriff Garry Welford.

She took the helm of the George County Sheriff's Department today, sworn by Judge Dale Harkey.

The wife of the two-term sheriff replaced her husband, who was struck and killed July 21, authorities have said, by Brandy Williams driving a pickup truck on Bexley Road.

Reportedly the girlfriend of criminal suspect Christopher Baxter, officials said she was trying to avoid spike strips that Welford was attempting to place on the roadway to stop their fleeing truck during a law enforcement pursuit.

Welford was buried a week ago today at the cemetery of Shady Grove Baptist Church.

Debbie Welford to lead Sheriff's Department

LUCEDALE -- Until a November special election is held to select a new sheriff, the widow of Garry Welford will serve in his position at the George County Sheriff's Department, according to the Mississippi Press.

Debbie Welford will replace her husband, a two-term sheriff in George County who was killed July 21 on Bexley Road as he worked to stop a fleeing suspect and his girlfriend during a law enforcement pursuit.

July Deadliest Month in Afghanistan

The death of six more American soldiers killed this week makes July 2010 the deadliest month of the 9-year-war in Afghanistan, according to AOL News on July 30.

The information, provided by the Associated Press, said in part:

"The deaths raise the July tally of U.S. service members killed in Afghanistan to 66, making this month the deadliest of the war since U.S. warplanes began bombing Afghanistan a month after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. For NATO as a whole, 86 foreign service members have been killed this month. June was the deadliest-ever month for the entire NATO force, with 104 deaths, including 60 Americans."

Let us Salute and Honor the fallen members of our military services, and pray for and help their families.

Flags on the National Mall

George County Sheriff's Personnel Honor Boss, Carry On

LUCEDALE -- For several hours this morning, Stone County law enforcement took over duties for George County personnel who led the procession and took center stage to lay to rest their slain leader.

George County Sheriff Killed in Line of Duty Laid to Rest

www.gulflive.com/themississippipress by reporter Cherie Ward

"It's a sad day," said Vicki Micelle, a receptionist at the George County Correctional Facility. "It's a very great loss."

Not all of the 42-member personnel at the jail attended funeral services for Sheriff Garry Welford. A skeletal crew remained on duty during a jail lock-down for services Monday morning.

Deputies and sheriff's department officials were among some 500 officers, according to news reports, from across the Gulf Coast who paid their respects to the sheriff and his family.

Approximately 1,500 people attended the services at Shady Grove Baptist Church, where some attendants braved sweltering 98 degree heat while standing outside to hear services for the two-term sheriff. Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant was reported to be among the crowd.

Five days after Welford was run over and killed July 21, allegedly by the girlfriend of a fleeing criminal suspect, he was laid to rest at the church cemetery just off Mississippi 26.

Sheriff Garry Welford 'Died Courageously'

www.sunherald.com by reporter Margaret Baker

"He was a very great man," said Micelle. "I've known him for several, several years ... 20 something years."

Reporter Cherie Ward said George County deputies and commanders led the procession as it traveled from the George County Courthouse to Shady Grove Baptist Church, where Welford attended.

Christopher Lee Baxter, 24, and Brandy Williams, 18, have been charged with capital murder. Williams was driving the truck that hit Welford, according to law officials. Apparently, she was trying to avoid spike sticks placed on Bexley Road by Welford to stop the vehicle.

George County Pays Tribute to Sheriff Garry Welford

www.wlox.com by reporter Patrice Clark

By early Monday afternoon, George County deputies had returned from the services for the two-term sheriff, who is survived by his wife, Debbie, three children, and seven grandchildren.

Facility employees carried on despite their heavy hearts, the receptionist said. Micelle said the day was hectic number of residents and visitors local and statewide present to remember and honor Welford.

"Everybody just got back," she said. "Other than being hot and sweaty, they are fixing to carry on with the day. They already have released the Stone County officers."

Read obituary and post your own comments

www.legacy.com