Police investigate two murders in two days

Published 7:58 am Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Photo by Kaitlin Mullins Crime scene tape can be seen on Vivian Merritt where a fatal shooting into a house was reported late Monday night. The shooting was one of two reported in two days. The first took place at Cloverdale No. 73.

Photo by Kaitlin Mullins
Crime scene tape can be seen on Vivian Merritt where a fatal shooting into a house was reported late Monday night. The shooting was one of two reported in two days. The first took place at Cloverdale No. 73.

Within two days, two shootings have resulted in the deaths of two people.

Brookhaven Police Chief Bobby Bell confirmed that a murder took place in the city on Monday night.

He said police received a call at 11:48 p.m. about a shooting on Vivian Merritt Street. Bell said the victim was Bridget Carmele Hall, 43.

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“We received a call that a person had been shot on Vivian Merritt. Upon arrival the victim was in the house,” Bell said.

He said he could not confirm how many times the victim was shot but that she was shot at close range.

He said Hall was not the only person in the house and that the department is interviewing witnesses. No arrests have been made.

A bystander on the scene Tuesday morning said the shooting happened around 11 p.m. Monday night. He said around that time, he saw two men fleeing the scene headed toward North Jackson, one riding a bike and one on foot.

On Sunday night, a Bogue Chitto man died in a shooting on Dr. Martin L. King Jr. Drive.

Lincoln County Coroner Clay McMorris said Kelcay Anthony Humphrey, 25, was pronounced dead at King’s Daughters Medical Center Sunday night.

Bell said one arrest has been made in that shooting. The Lincoln County jail docket showed Claudis D. Montgomery, of 4208 Highway 550, was arrested around 4 a.m. Tuesday morning. The 40-year old was charged with murder at the time of his arrest.

“We’re still working on the motive,” Bell said. “We don’t know the motive but we have enough evidence to charge him.”

Humphrey was charged with murder in the 2008 shooting death of William Ard Jr. Ard was shot in the back at Cloverdale No. 57. Police said Ard and Humphrey had no prior relationship. Humphrey was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 15 years but was on earned release supervision, according to the Miss. Dept. of Corrections.

This is a developing story. It will be updated as more information is available.