Geaux, Therese, geaux. Therese Apel provided some outstanding reporting in the Clarion-Ledger on one Desmond Brown today:
*Co-owner?
The co-owner* of a gas station shut down Tuesday for being a nuisance was implicated by a homeless man as his killer, police records show.
Clay Quarles, 51, received burns over an estimated 70 percent of his body in an incident at the Fast Fill convenience store and gas station at U.S. 80 and Gallatin Street on Feb. 28, 2012. He died March 12, 2012. Hinds County Coroner Sharon Grisham Stewart said the burns were the cause of death.
Police reports, family members, and other witnesses said Quarles told them Desmond Brown, now the outspoken part-owner of the Express Fuel Food Mart at the corner of Bailey Avenue and Northside Drive, had taken a shovel full of hot coals from a smoker and dumped it into his lap.
Court records show that Brown was no-billed, which means a grand jury did not indict him, in Quarles' death, but the charge he was brought up on is unclear. It simply reads, "questionable death." Neither the Jackson Police Department nor the Hinds County District Attorney's office had any immediate information on how the case was presented or what the actual charge brought against Brown was. There is no arrest on his record related to Quarles' death.
District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith said he thought the "questionable death" notation in the court record may have implied that there was something incomplete about the case, but he said Wednesday he would check into the case to try to pin down the exact chronology of the case up to the time it went to grand jury.
Jackson Police Department spokeswoman Colendula Green was also checking into the case to see if investigators were in on the presentation to grand jury and what happened from the police side.... Article
Kingfish note: Here is a question to ponder. The owners of the gas station on 905 West Northside Drive said they evicted Chirag Khowabunga last week as he allegedly owed $27,000 in rent. Tax records show that River Hills Bank owns the property. Put that aside and assume the Singh's own it. What were they charging Chirag for monthly rent? How many landlords would let the rent go unpaid for several months before they tried to evict the tenant? The landlords didn't move to evict until after the shooting of the police officer last week and then JPD started operating checkpoints by the store.
Perhaps the Singhs should show some bank statements that reveal how much Chirag was paying each month to rent the store.... or if he was ever paying at all. One question that should be asked is what exactly was the financial arrangement (and proof of it) between Chirag and the landlords. In other words, the question should be asked if this is a sham debt. Something to ponder.
16 comments:
Understatement: District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith fail miserably at protecting victims of crimes in JackTown! The state Supreme court should disbar him.
Aside from the guy's death, there was an amusing aspect to the story. Evidently, someone (Desmond Brown, I presume) told the police that Quarles turned the smoker over on himself or fell into the smoker. There is a photo of the smoker in the article. You would need super human strength to turn that thing onto yourself. Further, I don't know how one would "fall into" it.
I wonder if Quarles was strong enough to swim across a river while tied to a gin fan.
I was reading elsewhere that the murder rate in Jackson had been going down. I naturally assumed that this was a matter of the authorities' placing murders in other categories, since this is supposedly the method by which cities similar to Jackson reduce their murder rates. But I wondered exactly how such a thing was done.
Did I miss something, or did that horrific murder get deliberately downgraded to "Questionable Death"?
As a "Questionable Death", would this incident have been kept from affecting the Murder Rate? If so, then I can now see how the rate has been reduced.
And after a person has done something so unspeakably horrible, wouldn't one expect the police to watch him and his place of business closely?
Kingfish; your sense of humor may not be appreciated; however, I believe Emmitt proved that to be impossible.
Hold on, stop.
There's a guy named Chirag Khowabunga?
that's really no an appropriate title. I knew Clay and his family and I would hate for his mother to read burned or BBQ'd alive.
That was a bit of sarcasm and disbelief directed towards Brown's claim.
Therese is da bomb. Wouldn't have much of a newsroom at CL without her.
Given the number of panhandlers that have been in downtown Jackson lately, I welcome his barbecue service.
I believe the Coroner or a Coroner's Jury determines cause of death. JPD is unable to change this. Just don't buy cheap shot at JPD.
5:52 wins the trophy.
The Clarion-Ledger hit bottom a couple of years ago. It is vastly improved, mostly in the area of investigative journalism. We are still more than fortunate to have Kingfish, but he is to be commended for drawing attention to well-done work at the C-L and other media.
Where was Brown the night Jessica Chambers was set on fire? I hope the CL will investigating that!!!
Burke: You're a Suck-Ass. There may be a more appropriate term, but, if there is, it escapes me.
Don't trust the "murder rate numbers" If the thug dies in the hospital that gets counted on another check list.
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