Dozens of area residents, mostly African Americans, marched down 14th Avenue North in Columbus Saturday on their way to Union Cemetery.
Their serious faces marked the solemness of the occasion. Their chanting, however, gave full-throated voice to the agony and urgency of their purpose.
“Who am I? Ricky Ball!,” they repeated as they marched, along with “Rest in peace Ricky Ball!” and “Long live Ricky Ball!”
The march, which began shortly after noon at Mt. Zion Baptist Church, commemorated the one-year anniversary of the officer-involved shooting that claimed 26-year-old Ball’s life, an incident that became a lightning rod for evaluating race and police-community relations in Columbus. Saturday’s event ended at Ball’s graveside, where marchers released red and white balloons in his memory. One participant sang a hymn, while others encircled the headstone to offer repetitions of “I miss you, Ricky.”
“It’s just to remember him and remember that on this day he lost his life,” said Elizabeth Cockrell, Ball’s aunt. “We’re not here to try anybody or condemn anybody. We just want to remember him and hope that this sort of thing will soon come to an end.”
A year ago today, former Columbus police officer Canyon Boykin shot and killed Ball after Ball fled a traffic stop near the intersection of 21st Street and 14th Avenue North. Ball was a passenger in the vehicle being stopped. A 9mm handgun, which was reportedly stolen from another CPD officer’s home about six weeks before the shooting, was found lying near Ball’s body.
A Lowndes County grand jury indicted Boykin, a white officer, for manslaughter in the shooting death. Boykin pleaded not guilty to the charge. A special prosecutor with the Mississippi Attorney General’s office is handling the case.
The Columbus City Council fired Boykin shortly after the incident for failing to activate his body camera before or during the incident, having an unauthorized passenger in his patrol unit at the time of the stop and violating the city’s social media policy by making derogatory posts about women, African Americans and disabled people.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation investigated the case. The special prosecutor has not released the finding of the investigation.
Cockrell emphasized that Saturday’s event didn’t aim to put the blame on anyone for the shooting. However, she said it’s been hard for the family to not know for certain what happened a full year after Ball’s death.
“Just the truth is all that we need, whether it’s good or bad,” she said. “If he did something, we want to know. If there’s something the officer did wrong, we want to know. We just want the truth.”
Tupelo resident Candice Knowles, a friend of Antwun Shumpert, attended Saturday’s march. Shumpert, 37, was killed by a Tupelo Police Officer Tyler Cook in June after a traffic stop. A grand jury cleared Cook of wrongdoing in that case.
Knowles said Shumpert’s death piqued her interest in the Ball case and motivated her to come to Columbus to take part on Saturday. She said she was impressed to see the community gathering to show support for Ball and his family.
“It shows so much love and how we are capable of coming together as a people and a community to get justice for our loved ones and fellow citizens,” she said.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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