BAIL DENIED FOR 3 SUSPECTS IN VICKSBURG SHOOTING

Three suspects were charged Tuesday morning in the early Sunday morning shooting that claimed the life of one Vicksburg man and wounded three others, Sheriff Martin Pace said.

The three appeared in County Court in front of Judge John Price for their initial court procedure.

Charged were:

• Erick Leamont Smith, 22, 314 Linda St. Vicksburg, denied bail;

• Ricky Lee Perkins, 17, 824 Polk St., Vicksburg, denied bail;

• Don Cornelius Bell, 22, 1315 Filmore St., Vicksburg, denied bail.

Smith and Perkins were charged with one count of second degree murder, one count of drive-by shooting and three counts of aggravated assault.

Bell was charged with one count second degree murder and one count drive-by shooting.

Deputy Warren County coroner Kelda Bailess said Jerome Rankin, 22, of Vicksburg, was pronounced dead at 4:25 p.m. Sunday at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson.

She said Rankin’s body was taken to the Mississippi State Crime Lab in Jackson for an autopsy.Pace said the other three victims remain at UMMC. Their conditions were unknown at press time, he said.

The shooting occurred about 2:15 a.m. Sunday during a gathering in the parking lot at the Kangaroo Express at the corner of U.S. 80 and Mississippi 27.

“There was a gathering of people who went to the Kangaroo after several nightclubs in Vicksburg closed,” Pace said.

“An argument began and several shots were fired by several people. All of the wounded people were adults age 20 to 27.”

He said when deputies arrived at the scene they found one of the wounded victims still in the convenience store parking lot. He was taken to Merit Health River Region Medical Center by ambulance.

The other victims were taken to River Region by private vehicles. All were later transferred to University of Mississippi Medical Center, Pace said.