At least one murder suspect and one aggravated assault suspect also accused of murder are set to go before juries in Lowndes County Circuit Court’s next session which starts Monday.
Kirby Erby, 23, of 39 Christopher Drive, is due to stand trial next week for two counts of aggravated assault. Erby and his brother Joshua, were arrested in August 2014 after they were accused of shooting two people at a house party on Highway 182. Erby filed a speedy trial motion for the case, according to District Attorney Scott Colom.
Erby is also accused in a murder and aggravated assault case with another brother of his, Quinton Erby, both of whom were arrested for shooting and killing Joshua Richardson and injuring another victim. The shooting allegedly at the intersection of Harris and Peach streets in Columbus less than a month after Erby allegedly shot and injured people at the party on Highway 182.
Erby has not been tried for Richardson’s murder, Colom said.
The Dispatch was unable to reach Erby’s attorney, Collen Hudson, before press time.
The capital murder trial of Cameron Merriweather, 30, of Reform, Alabama, is set for May 15. Merriweather is accused of breaking into a Lowndes County home on May 20, 2011, with at least one other person. During the break-in, a 19-year-old asleep on the couch at home was shot and killed. Merriweather was charged, along with four other men, all but one of whom were from Reform.
Though Merriweather’s accomplice Joshua Taylor, 29, was just sentenced to life in prison for the shooting in an out-of-session trial in April, Merriweather is still charged with capital murder because according to Mississippi law if someone is killed during the commission of a crime, whoever was involved in the crime is also considered guilty of the murder.
Three other suspects were arrested and initially charged with capital murder, but a grand jury indicted them on accessory after the fact. Their cases have not yet been tried.
Merriweather’s attorney, Steve Wallace, was unable to speak to The Dispatch before press time. Attorneys in Colom’s office said Merriweather faces life in prison if convicted because he has an intellectual disability that prevents the DA’s Office from asking for the death penalty.
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