BROOKHAVEN — McComb Police Chief Greg Martin says a Brookhaven
police officer, who was arrested in connection with a slaying in Pike County,
had been fired by his department prior to his hiring in Brookhaven.
Brookhaven Police Chief Bobby Bell said the arrest of the officer
Jasper Cortez Pittman came as a shock to him. Pittman was arrested by Pike
County authorities in the death of 53-year-old Kenneth Thompson.
Officials say Pittman was charged with accessory after the
fact to murder. Other charges against him include arson, conspiracy to commit
arson and sexual battery.
Thompson's body was found in a shallow grave on Pittman's
property. An affidavit filed by Pike County Sheriff's Department investigators
reveals that Pittman had a sexual relationship with Thompson's 14-year-old son.
The boy and two others — 17-year-old LeJerrious A. Perkins
and 26-year-old Greg Antonio Fortenberry — are charged with murder, conspiracy
to commit murder, arson and conspiracy to commit arson.
Pittman had previously served nearly a year as a McComb
police officer but was terminated following a disciplinary hearing concerning
the reckless pursuit of a suspect.
Thompson's body was found late Sunday or early Monday near
the officer's home near McComb, a town of about 12,700 people in south
Mississippi.
Thompson had been stabbed in the neck, according to
affidavits filed in Pike County Justice Court.
The arson charges are related to the suspects burning
Thompson's truck to destroy evidence, according to the affidavits. The truck
was found in the woods near a home of one of Pittman's relatives, the affidavits
said.
District Attorney Dee Bates has said both teens are charged
as adults, which is customary under Mississippi law for juveniles charged with
crimes that carry the possibility of a life sentence.