LINCOLN COUNTY, MS (WLBT) - In May of 2017, a man named Willie Cory Godbolt went on a shooting spree from Bogue Chitto to Brookhaven, killing eight people, some of them family members.
He has been charged with capital murder, murder, attempted murder, kidnapping and armed robbery.
Godbolt had a status hearing back in August, and at that time, three of the autopsies were still outstanding, and officials blamed a backlog at the state crime lab.
He was arrested for shooting and killing 7 family members and a Lincoln County deputy after an argument with his estranged wife. He's confessed to at least one of those shootings.
After the argument with his wife in Bogue Chitto, authorities say Godbolt opened fire, killing Barbara Mitchell, Toccarra May and Brenda May.
Lincoln County Deputy William Durr responded to the scene and was killed. The Sheriff's Department says typically deputies are not sent to domestic violence situations by themselves; Durr believed he was responding to a noise complaint at the home that a neighbor called in.
Lapeatra Stafford says Godbolt kidnapped her and made her drive him to a second home where there was a family gathering (a sleepover of about a dozen children).
Bullets hit 11-year-old Austin Edwards and 17-year-old Jordan Blackwell, killing them both. Blackwell’s parents believe Godbolt was looking for them originally, not the children.
Godbolt then allegedly had a kidnapping victim take him to a third home a few minutes away. Ferral Burage and his wife Shelia were killed.
The victims in this massacre ranged in age from 11 to 55 and many of them were family members.
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