She tried to report her son before a MS trooper was killed. ‘Now, I’m in a nightmare’
Deedra Madison tried to get probation officers to pick up her son for house arrest violations long before he became a suspect in the murder of a Mississippi state trooper and a Bay St. Louis man.
But no one took action, she said.
And now, her baby boy, Damion Whittley, 25, of Natchez, and two others, Treyon Washington, 24 and Cdarrius Martin, 17, are charged with first-degree murder in the Aug. 7 shooting death of Lt. Troy Morris.
Whittley and the others are accused of shooting Morris inside a commercial truck he used for his second job as a contractor for the U.S. Postal Service. He had pulled over on Highway 61 in Jefferson County because of a flat tire and called for help, but died before help arrived.
In addition, Whittley is facing murder and armed robbery charges in Gulfport for the May 8, 2019, robbery and shooting death of Bay St. Louis resident Delfred Lewis Jr., 20.
Madison said her son never would have been involved in any of those crimes had his probation officers taken action when she reported him repeatedly for violating his house arrest.
Whittley was on house arrest following a 2017 conviction of grand larceny in Adams County for stealing ATVs.
Madison shared text messages between her and her son’s probation officers where she had reached out for help for her.
The Sun Herald called her son’s probation officer and left a message, but he did not call back.
When Whittley was placed on house arrest, he was living with his mother, but he packed up a sack of his clothes and left Thanksgiving night 2018.
When she called his probation officer to report it, she was told her son had a new address and that it was “none of her business.”
She said she knew he didn’t have a new address and was actually back on the streets.
About a month later, she found her son’s GPS monitoring device hidden under some clothes in his bedroom. He had ditched it.
Again, she called the probation officer to report it, but still she said there were no consequences for her son and he continued to do what he wanted.
The Sun Herald reached out to the Mississippi Department of Corrections for comments on the lack of supervision that Whittley received and to MBI for additional questions. Neither offered any comment on the ongoing investigation into the trooper’s murder.
“I don’t want any other mother to go through what I’m going through now,” she said. “I tried to do something about it. I tried to tell his probation officer to check on him. I tried to to keep him out of trouble.
“I feel like if my son had been monitored, he wouldn’t be involved in any of this,’ Madison said. “Now, it’s like I’m in a nightmare I never imagined. I called these probation officers. I sent texts to them. Now, it’s too late for my son. “
Madison has heard from her son since his arrest and said he’s recovering from two gunshot wounds he apparently suffered during the incident with Morris. The Sun Herald asked MBI for additional information, but did not hear back.
Madison said she hopes other mothers who have children in similar situations can get the help they need before their children end up like her son.
“I don’t want any other mother to go through what I’m going through now,” she said. “I have come to terms with the fact that my son will never get out of prison. If he did it, he needs to be in jail. I’m not making excuses for him.”
