Mississippi drops charges in killing of former state lawmaker but says new charges are possible
JACKSON, ma’am. — Prosecutors in Mississippi have dismissed charges against a man involved in the shooting of a former state lawmaker and the earlier fire of a building, saying they need more time to investigate the case.
Murder and arson charges against Billy Lamar Brooks were dismissed without prejudice, meaning a grand jury could consider new charges later, according to a document filed Friday in Yalobusha County Circuit Court.
Republican former state Rep. Ashley Henley, 40, was shot to death in June 2021 outside the burned-out mobile home in a rural area where her sister-in-law, Kristina Michelle Jones, was found dead in December 2020.
“After reviewing the case for trial, attorneys for the state requested additional time to fully investigate and review this case,” according to the document signed by an assistant district attorney and Circuit Judge Smith Murphey.
The document states that it is “not possible to estimate the time required to complete this investigation,” but prosecutors could present the case to a grand jury at some point.
Brooks’ attorney, Bradley Peeples, declined to comment on this latest development on Wednesday. He told The Associated Press that Brooks has been out on bail since last year.
Henley and other family members believed Yalobusha County authorities did too little to investigate possible criminal charges in Jones’ death. Family members placed a homemade sign at the site of the mobile home with photos of Jones under the phrase: “I was murdered.”
Yalobusha County Coroner Ronnie Stark said Henley had been mowing grass at the site before she was killed.
Brooks, who lived near Jones, was indicted in February 2022 on charges of maliciously setting fire to the home of Jones and Terry Henley. Court records show that a grand jury returned a new indictment against Brooks on June 30, 2022, to add a murder charge in the death of Ashley Henley.
Investigators said Henley’s body was found on June 13, 2021. The dismissed indictment accused Brooks of killing her on or around the same day.
Ashley Henley served in the Mississippi House from 2016 to 2020 in a DeSoto County district about 70 miles (115 kilometers) north of where she was killed. She was a teacher before she was elected president, and she often took her young son to the Capitol during legislative sessions.
Henley sought a second term in November 2019 and lost to a Democrat by 14 votes. She disputed the election results and said she believed she had discovered some voting irregularities. A bipartisan House committee held a public hearing on her challenge and unanimously rejected her request for a new election.