Lamar County shooting victim identified

Ellen Ciurczak
Hattiesburg American

Lamar County sheriff's officials are investigating a Tuesday morning shooting that killed a 35-year-old woman.

Sheriff Danny Rigel said the shooting occurred around 9:40 a.m. in the 1400 block of Old Highway 24.

"We received a 911 call that a female had been shot in the chest," he said. "We responded to the scene and found a  (35)-year-old female suffering from a gunshot wound to the upper torso."

Lamar County coroner Cody Creel said the woman died at Forrest General Hospital. Lisa Klem, Forrest County deputy coroner, identified the woman as Beth Ann Marshall of Lamar County. The cause of death is pending, waiting the results of an autopsy.

Rigel said there were two people home at the time of the shooting, both residents at the address. One was the victim. 

The other resident was a man who ran to the neighbor's house to report the incident and the neighbor called 911.

Rigel said a hunting rifle was removed from the residents' home as evidence.

"We don't know (if this shooting) was accidental, intentional or whatever," he said. 

Rigel said authorities questioned the man, but he is not in custody at this time. 

"We don't have enough evidence to charge anybody," he said. "Until we can put the case together — it's very preliminary — we're not going to charge him."

The body will be sent to the state crime lab in Jackson for the autopsy.

"We're hoping we can get some more evidence from the autopsy," Rigel said.