Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch confirmed to the Laurel Leader-Call that the state will join a lawsuit that was filed to block battleground states from casting “unlawful and constitutionally tainted votes” in the Electoral College. Texas AG Ken Paxton filed the lawsuit against four b…

A Laurel man and woman were taken into custody Tuesday afternoon and are being charged in the shooting death of an unidentified man at a motel on Monday night. Steven Thornton, 31, was charged with murder and Amanda Landrum, 31, was charged with accessory to murder after being taken into cus…

Editor’s note: The preview story on Page B1 of Thursday's paper was sent to the printer before this decision was made.

Two former officers with the Laurel Police Department have been indicted by the Jasper County grand jury for three felonies.

Judge Billie J. Graham has been appointed Chancery Court Judge of the 19th Chancery Court District of Mississippi, Gov. Tate Reeves announced today. Graham has served in a variety of legal roles throughout her career, from solo practitioner in chancery court to Justice Court judge.

A Sandersville police officer was shot in the line of duty and the suspect is in custody, local law enforcement officials are reporting. Officer Miguel Grimaldo, who is a part-time officer for the SPD and a reserve deputy with the Jones County Sheriff’s Department, reportedly approached a ma…

During the reignited debate on whether the state of Mississippi flag sends racist messages, Laurel Mayor Johnny Magee signed an executive order on Tuesday to take down flags at its government properties.

A Jones County woman is dead and the suspect in her death is in custody in the hospital, Sheriff Joe Berlin said. Adam Mills, 28, is being charged with murder. Jones County Sheriff’s Department deputies took him into custody on Powers Drive, just off Highway 184, just before 4 a.m. They were…

An officer with the Ellisville Police Department has been arrested on drug-related charges.

An inmate died at the Jones County Adult Detention Center on Thursday afternoon, but details of the death weren’t made public as of Friday afternoon.

A tornado has struck Soso Volunteer Fire Department and numerous homes between Soso and Moss, according to reliable reports. There are also reports of injuries in residences in Calhoun and near Moss. Another large tornado is tracking right behind it, forecasters say. Jones and Jasper countie…

An Ellisville Police Department officer is facing charges of child molestation. David Luna, 44, was booked into the Jones County Adult Detention just before 11 a.m. on two counts of molesting-touching a child for lustful purposes.

A pair of family dogs perished in a fire that started on the stove of a home in The Powers Community early Saturday.

In her initial appearance before Judge Kyle Robertson, bond for Latina Marie Oates has been denied.

Gov. Tate Reeves has ordered all Mississippi public schools to be closed through April 17 to help combat the spread of coronavirus. Local administrators will be meeting to see how to provide services to students during this time.

An Ohio woman who is accused of killing her young son in a Laurel hotel is being transported back to Jones County from New Orleans, Chief Tommy Cox of the Laurel Police Department and District Attorney Tony Buckley confirmed.

Murder suspect Latina Marie Oates, 33, of Powell, Ohio, is in custody in New Orleans and the two children who were with her are OK, Chief Tommy Cox of the Laurel Police Department said. Oates is accused of murder in the death of her 11-year-old son Josh, according to unconfirmed reports. The…

A young child has been found dead in a room at Hampton Inn in Laurel and the death is being investigated as a homicide, officials confirmed. Investigators with the Laurel Police Department, EMServ Ambulance and Deputy Coroner Ernest Hollingsworth were on the scene. LPD Chief Tommy Cox said h…

Make sure to pick up Saturday's (March 14) special edition of the Leader-Call. We will have information from local schools, businesses and South Central Regional Hospital as they all react to the coronavirus crisis that is sweeping the nation. 

The Jones County Sheriff's Department is seeking information on the whereabouts of Henry David Jernigan. He fled from deputies at a traffic safety checkpoint overnight before abandoning the vehicle he was driving and escaping into the woods on Old Highway 84 at Masonite Lake Road in the Myri…

The Jones County Sheriff’s Department’s narcotics agents and SWAT team executed simultaneous search warrants at 4 a.m. Tuesday and made drug arrests at residences on Township and Dick Sumrall roads, according to a press release from Sheriff Joe Berlin. The warrants were in response to “numer…

Ex-supervisor Jerome Wyatt has plead guilty to embezzlement. He was ordered to serve five years probation with community service, in addition to paying restitution in the amount of $6,076.46. 

Murder suspect Michael Shane Askew, 52, of Bay Springs has waived extradition at a hearing before a judge in Nashville. Jones County Sheriff’s Department investigators are expected to go pick him up next week and bring him back to Jones County to face charges in the stabbing death of 82-year…

A Jasper County man is the Shady Grove murder suspect who is in custody in Tennessee after being captured by U.S. Marshals on Wednesday night.

There is a heavy law enforcement presence at a residence on Shady Lane where it's been reported that a body has been discovered inside. Officials have confirmed this is being investigated as a homicide. Updates will come as we receive them.