Calloway found guilty; trial set for 3 other suspects
OXFORD - Five of the nine people charged in the May 2015 shooting deaths of Hattiesburg police officers Liquori Tate and Benjamin J. Deen have yet to stand trial.
Three are scheduled to stand trial May 11 — Brodrick Varnado, Douglas McPhail and Anquanette Alexander — unless they make plea arrangements.
McPhail and Alexander are charged with conspiracy and first-degree hindering prosecution. McPhail is accused of conspiring with Alexander to hide or dispose of physical evidence. McPhail remains free on $15,000 bond. Alexander is out on $10,000 bond.
Varnado is charged with accessory after the fact of capital murder and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. He allegedly was the person who hid the murder weapon. He remains free on $90,000 bond.
Joanie Calloway, who was charged with attempted accessory after the fact of capital murder and hindering prosecution in the first degree, was found guilty on both counts after a two-day trial that wrapped up Wednesday in Lafayette County. She had requested a change of venue because of pretrial publicity.
Calloway was sentenced to 25 years in prison, the maximum she could receive for the charges.
The alleged shooter, Marvin Banks, died of apparent heart disease while in his cell at Forrest County Jail.
His brother, Curtis Banks, pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact of capital murder and is serving a 20-year sentence with the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
Jimmy “Jimbo” Velton Brady is serving a five-year sentence for possession of a stolen weapon, which he sold or gave to Marvin Banks. The gun was used to commit the murders.
Cornelius Clark, the alleged third person in Calloway’s vehicle, was ordered last year to undergo a psychiatric evaluation to determine whether he is able to stand trial. That report has not yet been returned to the court. He is charged with first-degree hindering prosecution.
Abram Wade "Pete" Franklin is charged with first-degree hindering prosecution. He allegedly tried to hide the fact that Curtis Banks was hiding in his attic, making it more difficult for police to locate him.
Franklin has been out on $75,000 bond. His case was transferred to the 15th District Circuit Court after it was learned his residence sits in Lamar County. His case is still pending.
The jury in Calloway's trial — to date the only one connected to the officers' murders — was comprised of five women and seven men, all Lafayette County residents. They deliberated for less than an hour Wednesday afternoon before reaching their verdict.
After sentencing, 12th District Circuit Judge Bob Helfrich asked Calloway if she wanted to say anything. She paused for several seconds, trying to gain her composure before speaking.
Her voice was barely audible as she faced the judge.
"I want to apologize to all parties," she said.
Deen's mother, Mary Ellen Deen, and Tate's mother, Youlander Ross, whose birthday was Wednesday, said they did not hear Calloway apologize.
"She didn't show any remorse whatsoever, even in her last statement," Ross said. "If she would have faced us, I might have had second thoughts about how she really felt or what feelings she actually had.
"It's hard to say whether or not she had rehearsed to say it or she felt obligated to say it. It was just hard to read."
Mary Ellen Deen said Calloway sat stone-faced throughout the trial and did not look across the courtroom at the Deen and Tate families sitting across from her. She didn't realize Calloway had offered an apology.
"I could not hear what she was saying," Mary Ellen Deen said. "She did not face us and she was mumbling, so I had no idea what she said.
"We knew coming up here, there's never going to be justice because we won't have our sons back. But we do have the satisfaction of Joanie being led out in cuffs."
Calloway was the driver of the vehicle that was pulled over by Benjamin Deen. Because Calloway did not have her driver's license and there was some sort of conversation and movement going on inside the vehicle, he called for back up. When Tate arrived, Benjamin Deen asked Calloway to get out of the car. She complied.
Tate in the meantime was trying to get Marvin Banks to step out of the car. He emerged with his hands up but quickly dipped back into the vehicle and pulled out a gun, shooting Benjamin Deen first, firing more shots at Tate as he ran between Deen's patrol car and Calloway's vehicle.
On the first day of trial, the state played footage from Benjamin Deen's dashcam that showed what happened the night the officers were killed.
Calloway took off after Banks would not get in the car with her. She later was picked up by police, but in several interviews she would not give them Banks' real name, saying she didn't know him even though the two were in a relationship, Hattiesburg police Lt. Latosha Myers-Mitchell and Mississippi Bureau of Investigation Sgt. Trent Weeks said in testimony Wednesday.
The state played a video of Calloway's interview with Weeks, when she kept insisting she did not know Banks.
However, Banks' best friend Aaron Thomas testified Calloway was with Banks three to four days a week for at least six months and sometimes the couple would spend the night at his house.
On the second and final day of Calloway's trial, close to 10 Hattiesburg police officers, including Chief Anthony Parker, arrived first thing in the morning to show their support for the Deen and Tate families.
"I do appreciate the officers coming up from Hattiesburg, the chief and all the officers," Mary Ellen Deen said. "That meant a lot to us. The DA's office, the prosecuting attorneys did a wonderful job. We couldn't ask for anything better."
Ross said she feels the same way.
"It's just a sigh a relief. I feel like I can start living a little, and like Mary Ellen said, it's not going to bring our sons back, but we do feel a sigh of relief, like we can start beginning to live."
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