A month after the murder of Michael Ringold, many in Duck Hill feel unsafe and are wondering if the person responsible will ever be apprehended.
Duck Hill Chief of Police Tyler Winter told those in attendance at Monday’s meeting of the Duck Hill Mayor and Board of Aldermen that he understands their concerns and no one who wants to solve this case more than him.
“No one deserves to have their life taken,” Winter said.
The conversation began with several concerned citizens complaining about the lack of lights in the community. Many in the community said because there aren’t a lot of streetlights on Carrollton Street, which is the street where the murder occurred, they don’t feel safe at night.
Brenda Brown, owner of Little World Daycare, said she wants streetlights because children have to cross the street and people don’t always stop at the stop sign. She also asked Winter if there is a way to alert the daycare if something happens near it.
“I’m not sure how I can do that,” he said.
Brown said they were alerted before about things that happened, referencing an incident where a suspect ran behind the daycare into the woods while the children were on the playground. She said she would have liked to have been notified.
“I can’t really do that,” Winter said. “I can’t chase him and call you. I’m barely catching my breath running after him.”
One lady said the murder took place in front of her mother’s home, and she doesn’t feel her mother is safe knowing the person who did it is still at large.
Some said they were uneasy when there is a lot of activity on Carrollton Street.
Ringold’s mother was also in attendance.
“I’ve talked to Tyler [Winter], and I’ve heard everything he’s said tonight. But, the person who did this is still out there. They beat him earlier this summer and now he’s dead. I want answers.”
Winter said that he’s told her everything that he knows so far, but the case has been turned over to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.
“I can’t tell everything [because] that would jeopardize the case. I was talking to the [Montgomery County] sheriff [Jeff Tompkins] and he said it took them almost two months to get him a search warrant,” he said. “They have to cover the entire state.”
He said he’s in contact with MBI at least two to three times a day.
“They’re discouraged because no one has even been picked up for questioning,” Alderwoman Lula Brown said.
