Jones County MS. deputy, church security team member, charged in fatal shooting near church
Laurel MS April 7 2023
A member of a church security team who is also a reserve deputy with the Jones County Sheriff’s Department has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with a shooting outside a church.
A service was underway Sunday evening when James Corey Donald, 45, was shot in the parking lot of The Rock Church near Laurel, Sheriff Joe Berlin told WDAM-TV.
The sheriff said a church security team member had approached Donald before the shooting. There was an altercation, and Donald reached for the security member’s gun, according to Berlin.
A bullet hit Donald in the upper torso, Berlin said. The sheriff did not specify who pulled the trigger or provide details.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, which handles officer-involved shootings, said Wednesday that Donald died of his injuries and that Ryan Walters was arrested and charged in connection with the shooting.
Walters, who was off duty from the sheriff’s department when the shooting took place, is both a parishioner and member of the church’s security team, Berlin said.
