There are a number of crimes that go unsolved within Yazoo City. But when those crimes are violent murders, it is imperative that the books are never closed on them.
Investigators with the Yazoo City Police Department are revisiting violent crimes within the community, but special attention is being paid to three unsolved murders, spanning back to 2016.
“We are revisiting unsolved violent crimes and providing updates to their families,” said Interim Police Chief Jay Winstead. “Just because we have had a change in our department heads, we are still focused on these cases.”
Investigators are particularly interested in making progress in the murder cases of DeAngelo Brown, Billy Ray Peeples and King Ball. Winstead met with Brown’s family last week, and he intends to sit down with the other families as well.
“We are getting new eyes to look at the cases, focusing on things we may have missed or move forward with something we already had that we are ready to pursue,” Winstead. “We have not forgotten about these cases, and these families deserve justice and closure. Having said that, we are hitting these cases hard again.”
DeAngelo Brown
The murder of 24-year-old DeAngelo Brown rocked the community when his body was discovered in the Twin Plaza Cinema parking lot in February of 2016. It was Yazoo City’s first murder of the year, and no one has ever been charged with his murder.
After his body was discovered by a local business owner, Brown was pronounced dead on the scene during the early morning hours of Feb. 6, 2016 from gunshot wounds.
He was gunned down on his 24th birthday.
Billy Ray Peeples
There was hope for closure in the murder investigation of Billy Ray Peeples when two suspects were charged three months after his body was discovered inside a Yazoo City building. But that hope was short-lived when those charges were dismissed a few weeks later.
Two suspects were charged in September of 2018, but those charges were dismissed. No one has been charged since.
The body of Peeples, also known as “the Peanut Man,” was discovered on June 11, 2018 inside a Jerry Clower Boulevard building with head wounds after friends reported last seeing him a few days prior. He died on June 19 after remaining unresponsive for over a week following those head injuries.
An autopsy performed at a state laboratory confirmed that he was “definitely beaten.”
King Ball
The body of King Ball, 79, was found murdered inside his home on East Seventh Street in October of 2018. His neighbor discovered his body.
Ball died from multiple gunshot wounds.
At the time of his murder, investigators said Ball’s home showed no signs of a struggle or forced entry, leading some to believe he knew his murderer.
No one has ever been charged with his murder.
