Ninth Suspect Arrested in Hattiesburg Police Officer Deaths
HATTIESBURG, Miss., May 28 (UPI) — Police in Hattiesburg, Miss., arrested a ninth suspect in connection to the shooting deaths of two police officers earlier in May.
Brodrick Kendell Varnado, 25, of Hattiesburg, was charged with accessory after the fact of capital murder, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation said.
Officials have not revealed Varnado’s connection to the shooting deaths of officers Benjamin Deen and Liquori Tate, who were killed May 9.
Eight other suspects have been charged in relation to the case, including Jimmy “Jimbo” Velton Brady, who was arrested May 15 for possession of a stolen weapon.
A day earlier, officers arrested Abram Wade Franklin and charged him with obstruction of justice. Officials said the information that led to Franklin’s capture came about during the investigation.
Authorities had arrested four suspects in the case — Curtis Banks, 26, Marvin Banks, 29, Cornelius Clark, 28, and Joanie Calloway, 22 — the day after the shooting.
Calloway and Marvin Banks were charged with two counts of capital murder. Officials have charged Clark with obstruction and Curtis Banks with being an accessory after the fact.
Two other suspects — Douglas Diquan McPhail, 21, and Anquanette Alexander, 19 — were both released from jail on bond May 18. They were both charged with rendering criminal assistance to a fleeing felon.
Varnado was booked into Forrest County, Miss., Jail, with no bond set as of Thursday morning.
