[ad_1]
N.C. Highway 87 at the Harnett and Lee county line is partially close due to a serious crash early Saturday morning.
Crews have been working to clear the crash scene since 4 a.m. between Broadway Road and Olivia Road, southeast of Sanford.
According to the traffic alert, the road is not expected to reopen fully until 8 a.m. The road was closed in both directions when the crash happened.
WRAL News is working to learn the extent of any injuries and how the crash happened.
[ad_2]
[ad_1]
TUPELO – A Tupelo woman will spend the next 15 years in prison after pleading to the lesser charge of manslaughter in the 2022 shooting death of her estranged husband.
Patricia Neal, 45, formerly of County Road 1438, Tupelo, was initially indicted for first degree murder for the death of Jeremiah Flakes, 21. Last week in Lee County Circuit Court, Neal entered an Alford plea, where she maintained her innocence but admitted the state had enough evidence to convict her.
Following the Aug. 28 plea, Circuit Judge John White sentenced Neal to 20 years, suspending five. That sentence will run consecutive to the 9-year sentence she is currently serving in the Delta Correctional Facility for uttering a forgery in Lee County.
In addition to the prison time, the judge ordered Neal to pay nearly $6,000 in court costs, fees and restitution. The latter includes $4,000 to Flakes’ family to pay for his funeral.
Neal’s codefendants were also indicted for first-degree murder and pleaded guilty to manslaughter last year. Both men were sentenced to 20 years.
The strange saga began on the morning of July 14, 2022, when Lee County deputy sheriffs were dispatched to County Road 1438 on a report of a vehicle blocking the road. A bullet-riddled sedan was found partially in the ditch and partially in the road. Flakes was in the back seat of the car and had been shot multiple times.
About two weeks later, authorities announced they were looking for the victim’s estranged wife (Neal), her new boyfriend (Shannon D. Bramlett, 33, of Sardis) and his nephew (Darick L. Moody, 19, of Oxford).
Bramlett and Moody were captured near Pensacola, Florida, on Aug. 1, 2022, and returned to Lee County. Neal was on the run for 16 days before U.S. Marshals apprehended her in Tennessee on Aug. 12, 2022. Lee County Sheriff Jim Johnson said she is awaiting extradition to be returned to Tupelo.
Bramlett and Moody pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter in April and May of 2024; respectively.
[ad_2]
[ad_1]
Felonies
The following people were booked into the Lee County-Tupelo Adult Jail in connection with felony charges ending Monday at 11 a.m.
Cordarius R. Bell, 33, of Grand Junction, Tennessee, was arrested by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, trafficking methamphetamine.
Marla Clifton, 43, of Dyersburg, Tennessee, was arrested by the Tupelo Police Department, trafficking methamphetamine.
Carter Dickerson, 19, of Mooreville, was arrested by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, aggravated domestic violence.
Alan Wayne Emison, 44, of Tupelo, was arrested by the Mississippi Department of Corrections, violation of parole.
Shamarius Gardner, 25, no address listed, was arrested by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, aggravated assault.
Troy Lee Jackson, 30, of Tupelo, was arrested by the Mississippi Department of Corrections, violation of probation, no driver’s license, no insurance, improper equipment.
Lucas Jean Lee, 43, of Pontotoc, was arrested by the Saltillo Police Department, Department of Corrections warrant.
Jager Samuel Livingston, 32, of Tupelo, was arrested by the Tupelo Police Department, burglary of an auto, burglary of a dwelling, public intoxication, possession of a controlled substance.
Jamie Martin Lober, 46, of Saltillo, was arrested by the Tupelo Police Department, grand larceny, shoplifting.
Richard L. Mansfield, 59, of Tupelo, was arrested by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, failure to register as a sex offender.
Nathan Hodges McIntosh, 35, of Mantachie, was arrested by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, possession of cocaine, DUI other.
Janzten D. Pinson, 37, of Pontotoc, was arrested by the Tupelo Police Department, possession of a Schedule I drug, expired tag, no insurance.
Richard Scott Reynolds, 32, of Tupelo, was arrested by the Tupelo Police Department, possession of a Schedule II drug, contempt of court, possession of paraphernalia.
Dashawn L. Stewart, 41, of Belmont, was arrested by the Lee County Sheriff’ Office, two counts of the sale of methamphetamine, trafficking methamphetamine.
Scottie Lee Walls, 58, of Mooreville, was arrested by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, home repair fraud, violation of Intensive Supervision Program, no driver’s license.
Blessin Marshai Young, 23, no address listed, was arrested by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, possession of fentanyl.
Lee County Sheriff’s Office
The following reports were filed Monday by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.
A Katie Anne Lane Auburn said she parked her 2019 Toyota Camry outside her apartment around 7 a.m. She said the doors were locked and she brought the keys inside. When she walked outside around 1 p.m., it was gone. She said she was up to date on the payments and there was no record of it being towed.
A County Road 811, Saltillo, woman said a white Chevy Tahoe passed her and then slammed on his brakes. The Tahoe then drove very slowly. When she tried the pass the SUV, it swerved into the other lane, trying to run her off the road. The Tahoe eventually turned on a side road and she continued on her way.
A Drive 1998, Saltillo, man said several white males and females were shooting guns toward his residence around 7:30 p.m. He said they are on a neighbor’s property while shooting.
A County Road 1460, Tupelo, man said his neighbors saw a gray SUV parked on his property around 10 p.m. They say the vehicle pull into the drive and park, but never saw anyone get out. The SUV was gone by the time the man arrived back home.
A Drive 57, Tupelo, man has been taking care of four puppies that showed up at his house a week ago. He has been trying to find them a home and wanted to know if the deputy could help. He was advised to carry them to the Lee County Humane Society.
A County Road 601, Guntown, man, 72, wanted to report a lost firearm. He said he hid the gun inside his residence before his grandkids came over. He has searched the house and cannot find where he had it hidden. He wanted a report on file.
A Green Tee Road woman said there has been a Lab puppy hanging around her house. She wanted to know if it would be OK for her to carry it to the animal shelter on her own.
A Palmetto Road Dollar General employee was outside on break when she saw a Black male leave the store with a cart full of items that were not in bags. He then began tossing merchandise into his vehicle. When she walked up and asked for a receipt, he said it was inside where he had gone through the self-checkout. She told him he was lying, because the self-checkout machine wasn’t working. He jumped in the car and drove away.
A County Road 1310, Mooreville, woman said someone came onto her property and damaged her car. The windshield was broken. Three doors and the trunk lid were scratched. Offensive words were carved into the driver’s door and the trunk. Neighbors saw a white female out by the car and thought it was the victim.
Anyone with information on any of these reports is urged to call the Lee County Sheriff’s Office at 841-9041, the Tupelo Police Department at 841-6491 or Crime Stoppers of Northeast Mississippi at (800) 773-TIPS or download the P3 Tip App and leave an anonymous tip that way.
[ad_2]
[ad_1]
A wrongful arrest has now been wiped from a Lee County man’s record. Gulf Coast News first exposed the injustice months ago. The arrest happened after artificial intelligence facial recognition led police to the wrong suspect. “They say in life, everything happens for a reason. I can’t for the life of me figure out this one,” Robert Dillon, the man wrongfully arrested, told Gulf Coast News earlier this year. ‘How did this happen?’ One year ago, right outside his home in San Carlos Park, Dillon was arrested for a crime he never committed. His stunned reaction was captured on the body camera of the deputy who’d knocked on his door. “I’m thinking, ‘How in the hell did this happen. How did this happen?’” Dillon recalled. Dillon was accused of trying to lure a child at a fast-food restaurant more than 300 miles away in Jacksonville Beach. Investigators there submitted restaurant surveillance photos of the suspect to an AI-assisted facial recognition program, which identified Dillon as a 93% match. Beyond that, and a witness who picked his photo out of a lineup, there was no evidence tying him to it.As Dillon first explained months ago, he’s never been to Jacksonville Beach. “Out of the blue. They pick some guy that lives six and a half hours away and says, ‘This is you.’ It blew my mind,” Dillon said earlier this year. Case dropped, arrest wiped from recordOnce Dillon and his attorney provided evidence to show that he did not commit the crime, the state attorney’s office in Jacksonville dropped the case.When Gulf Coast News first reported on it, a spokesman for the state attorney’s office said they were submitting paperwork to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for the case to be stricken from Dillon’s record. Now, the spokesman confirmed Dillon is no longer in their system. His arrest mugshot — and his case file — are nowhere to be found online. Not the first time…”This is a technology that’s really dangerous, because it often gets it wrong. But police often treat it like it has to be right,” Nate Wessler said of facial recognition programs. Wessler is an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union. He focuses on government and police use of new technology, like the facial recognition in Dillon’s case. “Now that we know about it, we want to dig deeper,” Wessler said of the case. “This is a real miscarriage of justice. And it’s the latest in a series of wrongful arrests we know of around the country after police relied on incorrect results from face recognition technology.” In 2020, Robert Williams was wrongfully arrested in front of his home by Detroit police. His wife and two daughters watched it happen. “I can’t really put it into words. It was one of the most shocking things I’ve ever had happen to me,” Williams said in an interview with the ACLU after his arrest. A surveillance photo of a man stealing from a watch store was run through face recognition technology by investigators and identified Williams — who was nowhere near the store at time — as a possible match. Wessler was part of the legal team that sued the city of Detroit on Williams’ behalf. “The way to avoid this kind of travesty of justice is to either take this technology out of the hands of police, or lock it down really seriously with a set of policies and restrictions,” Wessler said. Detroit PD changes policy after wrongful arrestWilliams’ lawsuit led to a settlement, which included not only a payout for him but also sparked a policy change within the Detroit PD. In Williams’ case, much like Robert Dillon’s, police relied on two pieces of evidence: the face recognition match and someone picking his photo out of a lineup. Now, in Detroit, more evidence is required to make an arrest. “When you go straight from a face recognition result right to a photo lineup, there’s a high, high likelihood of tainting the reliability of that lineup,” Wessler explained. “You’re going to populate it with an innocent lookalike, plus five people who don’t look much like the suspect. And now you’ve just created this totally suggestible situation, where even a well-meaning witness is going to be tricked.”Months later, Dillon still hopes to get justiceRobert Dillon is relieved the arrest is off his record, but he wants to file a lawsuit to fight back against the injustice. After all, he said he can never get back the sleepless nights wondering if he’d serve time for a crime he never committed. “You cannot wrongfully imprison somebody. No matter who you are. Everybody’s got rights,” Dillon said. Gulf Coast News reached out to the Jacksonville Beach Police Department again, but they still refuse to answer any questions about their investigation.
A wrongful arrest has now been wiped from a Lee County man’s record.
Gulf Coast News first exposed the injustice months ago.
The arrest happened after artificial intelligence facial recognition led police to the wrong suspect.
“They say in life, everything happens for a reason. I can’t for the life of me figure out this one,” Robert Dillon, the man wrongfully arrested, told Gulf Coast News earlier this year.
One year ago, right outside his home in San Carlos Park, Dillon was arrested for a crime he never committed. His stunned reaction was captured on the body camera of the deputy who’d knocked on his door.
“I’m thinking, ‘How in the hell did this happen. How did this happen?’” Dillon recalled.
Dillon was accused of trying to lure a child at a fast-food restaurant more than 300 miles away in Jacksonville Beach.
Investigators there submitted restaurant surveillance photos of the suspect to an AI-assisted facial recognition program, which identified Dillon as a 93% match.
Beyond that, and a witness who picked his photo out of a lineup, there was no evidence tying him to it.
As Dillon first explained months ago, he’s never been to Jacksonville Beach.
“Out of the blue. They pick some guy that lives six and a half hours away and says, ‘This is you.’ It blew my mind,” Dillon said earlier this year.
Once Dillon and his attorney provided evidence to show that he did not commit the crime, the state attorney’s office in Jacksonville dropped the case.
When Gulf Coast News first reported on it, a spokesman for the state attorney’s office said they were submitting paperwork to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for the case to be stricken from Dillon’s record.
Now, the spokesman confirmed Dillon is no longer in their system. His arrest mugshot — and his case file — are nowhere to be found online.
“This is a technology that’s really dangerous, because it often gets it wrong. But police often treat it like it has to be right,” Nate Wessler said of facial recognition programs.
Wessler is an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union. He focuses on government and police use of new technology, like the facial recognition in Dillon’s case.
“Now that we know about it, we want to dig deeper,” Wessler said of the case. “This is a real miscarriage of justice. And it’s the latest in a series of wrongful arrests we know of around the country after police relied on incorrect results from face recognition technology.”
In 2020, Robert Williams was wrongfully arrested in front of his home by Detroit police. His wife and two daughters watched it happen.
“I can’t really put it into words. It was one of the most shocking things I’ve ever had happen to me,” Williams said in an interview with the ACLU after his arrest.
A surveillance photo of a man stealing from a watch store was run through face recognition technology by investigators and identified Williams — who was nowhere near the store at time — as a possible match.
Wessler was part of the legal team that sued the city of Detroit on Williams’ behalf.
“The way to avoid this kind of travesty of justice is to either take this technology out of the hands of police, or lock it down really seriously with a set of policies and restrictions,” Wessler said.
Williams’ lawsuit led to a settlement, which included not only a payout for him but also sparked a policy change within the Detroit PD.
In Williams’ case, much like Robert Dillon’s, police relied on two pieces of evidence: the face recognition match and someone picking his photo out of a lineup.
Now, in Detroit, more evidence is required to make an arrest.
“When you go straight from a face recognition result right to a photo lineup, there’s a high, high likelihood of tainting the reliability of that lineup,” Wessler explained. “You’re going to populate it with an innocent lookalike, plus five people who don’t look much like the suspect. And now you’ve just created this totally suggestible situation, where even a well-meaning witness is going to be tricked.”
Robert Dillon is relieved the arrest is off his record, but he wants to file a lawsuit to fight back against the injustice.
After all, he said he can never get back the sleepless nights wondering if he’d serve time for a crime he never committed.
“You cannot wrongfully imprison somebody. No matter who you are. Everybody’s got rights,” Dillon said.
Gulf Coast News reached out to the Jacksonville Beach Police Department again, but they still refuse to answer any questions about their investigation.
[ad_2]