In Leake County, the district attorney says some people guilty of crimes will walk free after a former sheriff’s deputy admitted he tampered with evidence. D-A Steven Kilgore says all cases originating in the sheriff’s office dating back to 2019 have been re-examined and 31 indicted cases have been dismissed and other cases have been closed. Most of those were drug cases. Kilgore says he can’t comment on how the evidence was tampered with because there’s still an open investigation.
The Mississippi Forensics Laboratory discovered irregularities with the evidence leading to an investigation by the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics. Sheriff Randy Atkinson says he initiated his own internal investigation. “It’s very unfortunate that it happened,” Atkinson says. He says the sheriff’s department won’t lose focus on enforcing the law in Leake County and will be as transparent as possible in this case.
The former deputy is not being identified publicly at this time. (Read press releases from Kilgore and Atkinson below)
District Attorney press release
