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Donna Ladd

Stories by Donna

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Only Black People Prosecuted Under Mississippi Gang Law Since 2010

In the lead-up to this year's legislative session in Mississippi, supporters of a tougher gang law in the state talked a lot about the need to arrest white people. But ...

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UPDATED: City May ID Cops Who Discharge Weapons Within 72 Hours, Establishing Task Force

The City may require that the Jackson Police Department start releasing names of officers who fire on civilians within 72 hours of the incident.

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Oh, the Places You'll Go: Project EJECT Expels Gun Offenders to Faraway Prisons

U.S. Attorney Michael Hurst has charged 35 people since he first announced the anti-crime initiative Project EJECT in late 2017.

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Never Back Down: Mississippi Escalates War on Gangs

Mississippi law enforcement may soon be able to decide young people are a gang even if they're not part of a larger criminal enterprise with a hierarchy and criminal connections ...

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'Anti-Gang' Bills: One Alive As Experts Warn About Downside

Rep. Andy Gipson, R-Braxton, did not want to debate the "anti-gang" bill for long this morning, and after about half an hour, he tabled House Bill 541, noting that the ...

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'Anti-Gang' Bill Heads to Full House to Expand Policing Powers

Rep. Andy Gipson, R-Braxton, called the "Mississippi Anti-Gang Act" one of the most significant pieces of legislation the Legislature could pass in 2018. The bill would make "criminal gang activity" ...

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Lumumba Praises Retiring Chief Lee Vance As Maybe 'Best', Day After 'Project Eject' Tweets

Jackson Police Chief Lee Vance suddenly announced his retirement effective in a about a week after 30 years on the force.

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Hinds DA Facing Different Kind of Trial for Alleged Abuse, Stalking in Rankin County

In the last year, Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith has avoided a conviction in two trials for hindering prosecution in Hinds County that would have forced him from ...

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Amid Hotel Flap, Fondren Labeled a Top ‘Endangered Historic Place’ in State

Fondren is now on the list of the “10 Most Endangered Historic Places in Mississippi," just as developers of a new hotel anger neighbors for demolishing the house the neighborhood ...

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Newly Released Documents Show the Asbestos Trail in Fondren

The day after developers of a new Hilton hotel suddenly started demolishing structures on a two-acre site in the heart of Fondren, asbestos inspector Ryan Galfetti showed up unannounced after ...

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UPDATED: Darnell Turner Gets 45 Years, Judge Brings Up DA Smith

The young woman who accused Darnell Turner of beating her, dragging her, strangling her, shooting at her car, and dangling her off a bridge in the Washington Addition when she ...

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UPDATED: Darnell Turner May Serve 45 Years for 'Heinous Crimes'; Feds Earlier Tied Him to DA

A Hinds County jury yesterday convicted Darnell Turner, who also goes by Donald Dixon, in three separate counts related to a 2014 domestic incident—aggravated assault with a firearm, aggravated domestic ...

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UPDATED: Hinds DA Wants Rankin Charges Quashed, Again Cites AG 'Overreach'

District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith wants a Rankin County judge to quash another set of criminal charges against him—for domestic violence, stalking and robbery charges.

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Lumumba, Council Raise Property Taxes Tonight, Pledge to Be 'Good Steward' of Funds

In a rare Friday-night meeting, the Jackson City Council increased property taxes on the city's homeowners at a special meeting announced by fax 25 hours earlier at 4:45 p.m. on ...

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Banks: Preventing Crime Needs 'A Man from Every Block,' Teen Outreach

On a rainy Thursday night at Forest Hill High School in south Jackson, Ward 6 Councilman Aaron Banks hosted what he says is the first of many more of his ...

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DJP ‘Whistleblower’ Indicted for Five Felonies for Allegedly Forging Checks

The former Downtown Jackson Partners secretary who blew the proverbial whistle on her boss, Ben Allen, may end up guilty of more felonies than her former employer for "intentionally" methodically ...

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Jury Finds Hinds DA 'Not Guilty,' Hood Looks to Smith's Next Trial

A jury found Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith "not guilty" on three counts for hindering the prosecution of Christopher Butler.

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Hindering Justice? DA Smith Back on Trial

The second trial of Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith kicked off at 9:03 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 1, with a jury of seven women and five men who did ...

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UPDATE: Lumumba Wins Mayor's Race, Republican Candidate Wells Wants Recount

"We have a lot of work to do," Chokwe Lumumba said. "If you have the best ideas, we will work with it."

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Rep. Karl Oliver's Lynching Call Turns Spotlight to Mississippi Statues

When Rep. Karl Oliver decided to take to Facebook Saturday night to vent his anger over the Confederate statues coming off public property in Louisiana, he ignited a firestorm over ...

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UPDATED: State Rep. Karl Oliver Calls for Lynching Over Statues, Later Apologizes

Rep. Karl Oliver posted on Facebook that those taking down Confederate statues "should be LYNCHED!" He later apologized, but many are calling for his resignation.

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Lumumba Files Finance Address Supplement, GOP Nominee Wells Unaware of Need to File

The Democratic nominee for Jackson mayor has filed a supplement listing missing campaign-donor addresses, while the GOP nominee says he didn't know he had to disclose the information.

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Making of a Landslide: Chokwe A. Lumumba and a Changing Jackson

Primary night wasn't supposed to end that way. Chokwe Antar Lumumba could not possibly beat nine Democratic opponents outright and avoid a run-off. Here's why he did.

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‘Victory Is Mine’: Lumumba Landslide Win Defies Conventional Wisdom, Polls

Chokwe Antar Lumumba likely claimed the Jackson mayor’s seat, winning the Democratic primary by a landslide against other candidates, drawing more than twice the votes as the second-place candidate.

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Mississippi GOP Shoots Out 'Shameful' Email About Chokwe Lumumba, Candidate Responds

Last night, the Mississippi GOP sent out an apparently-worried email about the possibility of Chokwe Antar Lumumba winning the capital city's mayor's race.