At the recommendation of Police Chief Kenny Hampton, the local pool hall where a recent shooting left two men dead has been shut down by city leaders.
“This is the first of many moves we plan on making to clean up the city and restore order,” Hampton said. “We had to make a strong message that we must do things by the books for at least the next four years. What had been done in the past was not working.”
For violating the city ordinance concerning operational hours, Junior’s Bar and Lounge has been shut down for three years, and its privilege license has been revoked. Hampton also said the lounge, located near Broadway in Yazoo City and owned by Roy Harrington Jr., was also being “deceptive,” locking its doors and having vehicles park along adjacent streets to hide the fact that it was open outside of the city’s operational hours.
According to the city ordinance, the pool hall was supposed to be closed at the time of the shooting incident. The city ordinance states that these establishments are to be closed at 1 a.m., and no one is to be on the premises after 1:30 a.m. However, the pool hall was open for operation around 4:15 a.m. on June 5 at the time of the shooting.
And Harrington was charged with violating the city’s operational hours again last Sunday morning, a week from the day of the recent deadly shooting, Hampton said.
“He was on the premises about 3 a.m., which violates the city ordinance because even the owner has to be off the premises at 1:30 a.m.,” Hampton said. “He stated he returned to turn off the fans, but the fans were still on when I got there. Officers looked inside the building to see if anyone else was there, but it was just the owner, who we then charged with violating the city’s ordinance again.”
Yazoo County Coroner Ricky Shivers said Alexis Morris, 42, and John Andrew Walker Jr., 29, died from gunshot wounds following the June 5 incident. Both men were from Yazoo City.
After being taken to a local hospital by a private vehicle, Shivers said that Walker died from his injuries. He also said Morris died after crashing his vehicle into a home on Lamar Avenue after leaving the pool hall. No injuries were reported inside the Lamar Avenue home.
Hampton said he is also working with the fire marshal to pursue public endangerment charges.
“This is nothing personal,” Hampton said. “But things must be done for our city to reclaim our quality of life. A lot of people have moved from Yazoo City because of the crime, and when businesses look to come to Yazoo City, they look at the crime. It is unfortunate that two people died, but it also gave us a window of what is going on in our city while we are sleeping.”
“I hate that it happened on my watch, and I don’t want it to happen again,” Hampton continued. “My recommendation to close this place was solid, and I thank the Board of Mayor and Aldermen for supporting my recommendation and for understanding our troubles. It is about respect for the city we live in. When you don’t respect the city, that is when the disrespect begins, and the problems start. We intend to restore that respect.”
