District Attorney Scott Colom announced Wednesday morning he is handing over the investigation into Ricky Ball’s death to Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood’s office.
He said the state AG’s office has already agreed to present the case to a Lowndes County grand jury, which will ultimately decide whether anyone will be indicted. Colom announced his decision at a press conference in front of the Lowndes County Courthouse.
The AG’s office will now be responsible for appointing a special prosecutor in the case.
Canyon Boykin, at the time a Columbus police officer, shot and killed Ball on Oct. 16, 2015. Ball fled on foot from an attempted traffic stop at the intersection of 21st Street North and 15th Avenue North. He suffered two gunshot wounds, according to Lowndes County Coroner Greg Merchant, and was found about a block and a half from where he fled. A 9mm handgun, which had been reported stolen from a police officer’s home, was found at the scene near Ball’s body.
The city later fired Boykin for not activating his body camera during the incident. Boykin has since filed a federal lawsuit against the city. He also had an unauthorized civilian riding with Boykin and two other officers — Johnny Branch and Yolanda Young — in a patrol car at the time of the incident, police said, and city officials had indicated Boykin had posted several derogatory posts on social media aimed at African Americans, women and disabled people. The city council suspended Branch and Young temporarily for not activating their body cameras but did not fire them.
Colom made it clear on Wednesday he believes a Lowndes County grand jury should hear the evidence, but he said his office policy would always be to turn over officer-involved shooting investigations to the state attorney general.
“I think the best policy decision is to not have the local DA present officer-involved shooting cases to grand juries in their own districts,” Colom said. “That way, it avoids the appearance of bias.”
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation turned over its findings to Colom’s office on June 1. On Wednesday, Colom called the investigation file “significant,” specifically citing it included three binders of information, such as interviews and forensic evidence. He did not offer further details from the investigation report, saying he didn’t want to risk tainting the eventual grand jury.
Neither did Colom offer a specific timeline for when the AG’s office would proceed to the grand jury, but he said the office indicated the case was a priority.
A spokesperson for the AG’s office on Wednesday would not comment on Colom’s press conference or the investigation.
Colom acknowledged the attention the case has received, especially in the wake of several recent instances of officer-involved shootings nationally.
“I understand that,” he said. “All we can do is pray that people will listen to the evidence and make their decision based on that rather than speculation and rumors.”
Colom said he spoke with Ball’s family members about his decision before he announced it publicly, adding he thought they were “comforted” by that.
However, Antonio Long, Ball’s cousin who attended Wednesday’s press conference, said he felt Colom is moving the case to the AG’s office to keep pressure from himself.
“I just feel like we elected him for this position as citizens of Columbus and he’s pushing it off of himself and giving it to someone else to handle it,” Long told The Dispatch.
He also expressed frustration at the case’s slow process and lack of information.
“When will be that day that you at least give us some type of closure about what’s going on?” Long said. “You took someone away from his child, his family, his friends. The only thing we know is he was shot and killed and that’s it.
“We feel kind of lost,” he added. “We’re still at square one, like from day one. We still don’t know more than what the public knows.”
Columbus police chief Oscar Lewis and Mayor Robert Smith declined to comment on Wednesday morning.
Ward 4 Councilman Marty Turner said he’s fine with Colom’s decision to hand the case over to the AG’s office. The Ball shooting happened in Turner’s ward.
“I know [Colom] made a campaign promise that he would convene a grand jury and that’s what I expect him to do,” Turner said. “If he feels he should recuse himself, he should recuse himself.”
He added, however, that he hopes the Ball family gets answers soon.
“They deserve to know,” he said. “They deserve some closure.”
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