With two men in jail on charges of aggravated assault and armedrobbery in the shooting of an elderly Brookhaven woman, manymembers of the public have questioned the reasoning behind thecharges.

Eva Pullen, 85, of Chippewa Street, was shot four times in theparking lot between the Brookhaven Lincoln County Chamber ofCommerce and the Fred’s dollar store on Whitworth Avenue Saturdayafternoon just before lunchtime. She was sitting in her car in ahandicapped parking spot and had already surrendered her purse whenthe shooting occurred, witnesses said.

Brothers Quincy Walker, 22, and David Walker, 20, were arrestedshortly after the incident on Saturday and charged with aggravatedassault and armed robbery.

In a situation where someone is shot, said District Attorney DeeBates, it’s simple reasoning that the shooter’s intent was to killthe target. However, intent is hard to prove.

“If I shot you, it’s usually because I was trying to kill you,” hesaid. “That’s a pretty good indicator of intent, and it’sreasonable that people should come up with that conclusion.”

But, Bates said, proving intent is a bit of a chore, since therehas to be forethought. Meanwhile, aggravated assault is aggravatedassault even if the plan was not in place ahead of time.

“In attempted murder, we have to prove that it was, in fact, anattempt to kill,” he said. “With aggravated assault, you just provethat it was an attempt to harm someone with a deadly weapon.”

On a more important note, Bates said, aggravated assault carries alonger maximum penalty. The maximum for attempted murder is 10years, while the maximum for aggravated assault is 20 years, Batessaid.

Meanwhile, he said, armed robbery can be a capital case if the jurychooses it to be.

“You can get life in prison for armed robbery,” he said.

The Walker brothers are currently in Lincoln County jail. Policesaid no further charges have been pressed at this time.

Pullen remained at the University of Mississippi Medical Center inJackson in good condition, hospital officials said Monday.