Mississippi Star Football Player Dies

Mississippi Suicide Police say George County High School running back Billey Joe Johnson shot himself with a shotgun during a traffic stop.

by WKRG Staff

Published: Mon, December 08, 2008 - 3:42 pm CST Last Updated: Mon, December 08, 2008 - 4:01 pm CST

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is trying to figure out why a star football player killed himself during a traffic stop.

George County High School running back Billey Joe Johnson was stopped Monday morning on Highway 26 in Lucedale for a traffic violation. The deputy who stopped the 17-year-old was sitting in his patrol car about to run a check on Johnson's drivers license when he heard a gunshot. He looked up ans saw Johnson lying on the ground with a shotgun on top of his body.

Assistant coach Darwin Nelson said he was called to help identify the body. "To say that he had a world of potential would be one of the biggest understatements of the century," Nelson said.

Because the George County deputy was present when the shooting occurred, the Sheriff's Office requested the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation conduct the investigation.

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southfan1981 Says:

Fri, Dec 19, 2008 at 4:06 pm

Rose, I am curious why WKRG did not cover Ms Martin’s court date. This WAS a big deal a few months ago.

rosepetal Says:

Fri, Dec 19, 2008 at 2:51 pm

good reporting, southfan.

BamaBob Says:

Fri, Dec 19, 2008 at 1:50 pm

That info did nothing to clear up anything about this case. It just confirmed my suspicion that the two agencies were in communication after the 911 call was made. Makes the deputy’s incident report even harder to swallow.

BamaBob Says:

Fri, Dec 19, 2008 at 1:17 pm

District Attorney Tony Lawrence has just released a report showing that Billey Joe Johnson Jr. was the subject of an attempted burglary investigation minutes before he died of a gunshot wound.

Lawrence has provided the media with an incident report of an attempted burglary and radio logs from George County Sheriff’s Office and Lucedale Police Department.

http://www.sunherald.com/pageone/story/1027374.html

southfan1981 Says:

Fri, Dec 19, 2008 at 12:55 pm

OffTopic- Rosie, do you remember this?

http://blog.al.com/live/2008/12/teen_pleads_guilty_to_being_yo.html

southfan1981 Says:

Fri, Dec 19, 2008 at 12:42 pm

Bama, thanks for the links. I wonder who the family will get to perform a forensic based autopsy.

BamaBob Says:

Fri, Dec 19, 2008 at 11:34 am

Jackson County DA has called a press conference for 1:00pm today. Probably going to react to what has been said by the Mobile lawyer.

BamaBob Says:

Fri, Dec 19, 2008 at 8:42 am

I think what was found in him would be much more significant.

cmb1 Says:

Fri, Dec 19, 2008 at 8:20 am

Gun? that should be easy what was found on him?

BamaBob Says:

Fri, Dec 19, 2008 at 6:50 am

Jerome Carter, a Mobile attorney representing the family of Billey Joe Johnson, said Thursday that he does not believe the weapon that killed the talented running back was a 12-gauge shotgun.

However, Tony Lawrence, the Jackson County District Attorney who’s leading the state’s investigation, said Carter’s assessment is impossible to make without a series of forensic tests.

http://www.gulflive.com/news/mississippipress/news.ssf?/base/news/122968532233330.xml&coll=5

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