District Attorney Tony Lawrence has just released a report showing that Billey Joe Johnson Jr. was the subject of an attempted burglary investigation minutes before he died of a gunshot wound.
Lawrence has provided the media with an incident report of an attempted burglary and radio logs from George County Sheriff's Office and Lucedale Police Department.
Lawrence said his death is under investigation as a death by natural cause, rather than homicide.
"I caution members of the public to remain calm, avoid speculation and rumors and allow this investigation to proceed," Lawrence said.
"What this investigation is about is not the cause of death but the manner of death."
Sunherald.com will update this story as more details become available.
Sunherald.com encourages an open exchange of affirming and dissenting opinions on our stories, and we consider it an important element of the user experience on sunherald.com. We invite you to comment on our content as part of our interactive community, but please keep the discourse civil and refrain from profanity, obscenity, spam, name-calling or attacking others for their views. Read more
E-Mail
Print
Reprint or license
