Jackson Free Press

Jackson Mayor Frank Melton told reporters last week that he's getting telephone threats for pursuing a murder case against Jackson resident Sherrod Moore. Police arrested Moore last week in the deadly shooting of 37-year-old Jackson Police Officer Robert J. Washington, who disappeared Nov. 14, 1995, while patrolling his beat in Precinct 2. Police located his body the following day in a field near U.S. Hwy. 80 West and Whiting Road.

He had died from multiple gunshot wounds to the head.

Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith told reporters over the weekend that he will investigate the alleged death threats against Melton, which the mayor claims are a result of reviving the cold case.

Melton said he learned of the threat via a phone call to a source, who then carried word of the threat back to Melton. The mayor would not name the source of the threat, nor the person who delivered the message. Melton did not return calls to the Jackson Free Press.

"(Moore) knows I am the driving force behind his arrest," Melton told The Clarion-Ledger, "But I don't think this boy acted alone. We're going to continue to push this investigation forward, and I think we're getting closer to someone else who may have been involved."

Smith told The Clarion-Ledger that he will investigate the alleged threats to see if they are "credible," before carrying through with any further prosecution against a source.

Melton joined Jackson Deputy Police Chief Gerald Jones last Friday in announcing that a grand jury had indicted Moore for capitol murder.

Jones and Melton were vague on the details surrounding the renewed investigation, and would give no information on the new evidence leading to Moore's indictment.

"We have other arrests that may be pending in this case, so we're not able to answer that question," Jones said, adding that Moore was a suspect at the beginning of the investigation more than 12 years ago. "He was developed as a suspect early on through interviews, and the gathering of evidence led in that direction."

Jones also would not discuss possible motives in the shooting.

Moore has been out of prison on earned release supervision since last October after serving several years on two unrelated manslaughter convictions.

Unofficial information from police sources suggest Washington's murder case may have been revived thanks to new information from people familiar with the shooting, rather than new crime scene evidence.

Former Police Chief Robert Johnson, who was chief at the time of Washington's murder, told the Jackson Free Press that the officer's death had hit him particularly hard, and said he hoped the new, undisclosed evidence in the case was truly enough to carry an indictment.

"The thing about prosecuting a case like this is if you fail to prosecute the case effectively you don't get a second chance to do it," Johnson said.

Previous Comments

ID

68253

Comment

Another person was arrested in connection with the Washington murder on yesterday. It was also confirmed that seven witnesses to Washington's muder have alread been KILLED! This is WILD!

Author

justjess

Date

2008-02-08T10:35:14-06:00

ID

68254

Comment

Shawn Burton is the name of the person arrested. WAPT video Also, Moore's brother is in trouble for threatening a witness.

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2008-02-08T10:58:11-06:00

ID

118808

Comment

does anybody have any updated information on this case?

Author

FriendsofJackson

Date

2008-04-21T21:37:51-06:00

ID

118811

Comment

I started a thread on the forums discussing Melton's role in this. Had I known this thread was revived, I would've just posted the latest here.

Author

golden eagle

Date

2008-04-21T21:55:54-06:00