A Winona woman will serve 15 days in jail for shooting in Winona city limits and disturbing the peace.
Cordashia Sykes, 18, went before Judge Alan D. Lancaster on Aug. 25 in Winona Municipal Court. Clemmie Fleming, the grandmother of Sykes’s child, said around 2 p.m. on Aug. 22, Sykes came to her home on Campbell Street.
Fleming said she’s asked Sykes repeatedly not to return to her home because there’s always drama between Sykes and her son, who was not named. Fleming said on this particular day, she was pulling into her driveway, and Sykes came into her yard.
“Usually, she leaves when she sees me, but this day, she didn’t leave. She decided to stay,” Fleming said. She said Sykes came into the yard and began beating a mirror on her son’s truck. She said she asked Sykes to leave.
Fleming said Sykes went to the end of the fence and began saying what she would do to her. “She told me that she would ‘blow my [expletive] brains out.’” She also said Sykes fired a shot into the air. Fleming said Sykes began walking toward her when her son intervened, and she walked away.
She said her neighbors also called the police. Capt. Matt Milletello said they received several calls in the matter, one being from Sykes herself.
“The first call was for a disturbance at the home, and the dispatcher said she could still hear the disturbance and the other was for a shots fired call,” he said.
Sykes began testifying by stating that she didn’t have a gun, and Fleming was not there. She said it was another incident that happened between Fleming’s son and her. However, after being questioned by Lancaster, Sykes changed her story stating there was a gun, but she never fired it.
Sykes said that she was tussling over the gun with Fleming’s son, when it fired. Lancaster said that he found that Sykes testimony was not credible and found her guilty.
He sentenced her to 45 days in jail with 30 suspended and 15 to serve.
Sykes was visibly angry in court while Fleming was testifying. Her anger quickly turned into tears as she was ordered to serve jail time, and the tears kept flowing as she was handcuffed.
“How am I supposed to breastfeed my baby?” Sykes asked.
“That was a decision that you made,” Lancaster said. “But, there are ways around it, and it can be done.”
When Sykes was put into handcuffs she began to cry, stating that she “needed to breathe” which continued as officers escorted her out of the courtroom.
Sykes was represented by public defender Lee Bailey in his last case in Winona Municipal Court.
In an unrelated case, a fight at Dollar General led to Lancaster ordering the Winona Police Department to investigate if a woman and other women had been showing a nude video of a minor.
Kimberly Purnell was found not guilty in a simple assault case between her and Leah Crawford. Crawford said she was at Dollar General with her young daughter when Purnell approached her. The women told two entirely different stories on what happened. Crawford said there was an incident between her daughter and Purnell’s daughter that was a “kiddie thing,” and she said she doesn’t get into “kiddie stuff.”
“Because they’ll be back talking,” she testified.
She said that they began arguing inside the store, and she went outside to return a buggy and the argument continued.
“I told her if the shoe fit, wear it,” Crawford said. Lancaster asked her why she told her if the shoe fits, wear it. She said she posted a statement on Facebook that was general and she never mentioned Purnell’s daughter’s name.
Crawford said Purnell grabbed her by the neck and began hitting her with a closed fist. Crawford said she also received scratches to the face.
Purnell said the two never got into an altercation. She said she politely went to Crawford to ask her about a video she said a young male teen took of her daughter’s private area while undressed. Purnell said Crawford and other women in Winona were sharing the video.
“They were saying that I always talk about their daughters being fast, and now, it’s happening to me,” she said.
“Oh, I see where the shoe fits come in now,” Lancaster said. Purnell said she asked Crawford about the video because she’d spoken with Chief Roshaun Daniels, and he asked her to find out where the video came from.
Purnell said she knew who took the video.
Lancaster found Purnell not guilty of simple assault. “But, I’d like the Winona Police Department to investigate this further because that’s serious jail time,” he said.
