14-year-old girl now facing upgraded murder charge in shooting near Gulf Park Estates
Fourteen-year-old Bridgett Leann Forehand is facing an upgraded charge of second-degree murder in the shooting death of an Ocean Springs man.
The handcuffed teen with brown hair and blonde highlights and dressed in a yellow jail jumpsuit appeared calm when authorities led her into a courtroom Thursday afternoon for an initial appearance.
Forehand, of Vancleave, is accused of shooting and killing 19-year-old Mickell Gordon in the early-morning hours Wednesday.
The shooting happened, according to an affidavit filed in the case, while the girl was “recklessly handling a firearm.”
Public defender Amanda Galle asked a judge to consider setting a low bond for the girl since she was so young and also suffered from a mental illness that required medication.
Judge Mark Watts set Forehand’s bond at $100,000.
Galle had asked the judge to also consider placing the girl on home confinement with a GPS or ankle monitor to allow her to stay at home with her grandfather pending an indictment and trial. The grandfather said he had just gotten custody of the girl Monday.
Prior to that, Galle told the judge that one of the primary problems Forehand had at her prior home was that no one would get her the medication she needed for mental health issues.
Her grandfather was trying to get her the help she needed.
Just two days after Forehand’s grandfather got custody of her, she is accused in the murder.
The girl’s grandfather and aunt sat in the back of the courtroom during the hearing. Her family said the girl didn’t know the victim. They learned through authorities that the girl had apparently stolen the gun that was used in the killing.
Sheriff’s Capt. Randy Muffley said Gordon’s body was found in the street at the intersection of Center and Spruce streets near Gulf Park Estates in the early-morning hours Wednesday.
Sheriff’s deputies responded to the 2:07 a.m. call to go out to the area in the St. Andrews community just east of Gulf Park Estates. Coroner Bruce Lynd Jr. pronounced him dead at the scene.
Gordon had been shot, but an autopsy is pending to confirm the cause of death.
Deputies arrested Forehand after interviewing three witnesses.
The public defender representing the teen could request a preliminary hearing at a later date to determine if there is enough evidence to bound the case over to a grand jury for indictment.
This story was originally published March 11, 2021 at 3:02 PM.
