by Mina Corpuz, Mississippi Today
March 3, 2023

The family of a Jackson homicide victim said they want answers and for members of the criminal justice system to be held accountable for releasing the man accused of killing their son from prison this week.

Anthony Tyrone Lindsey Jr. allegedly was shot to death on June 3, 2021, by Jocquiez Williams, who was on parole and on house arrest at the time of the shooting, according to Lindsey’s family. Williams later returned to prison to serve time for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Lindsey’s parents said Thursday that Jackson police, the Hinds County district attorney’s office and the Department of Corrections all played a role in Williams’ release.

“You had him in your custody but you just let him go,” said Anthony Tyrone Lindsey Sr. “It’s more than one person who dropped the ball.”

Williams, 24, had been in custody at the Wilkinson County Correctional Facility to serve a sentence for a different crime, according to a Thursday statement by Corrections  Commissioner Burl Cain.

He was released Wednesday, but MDOC cannot hold a person after they complete their sentence unless a detainer is attached to their file, which usually happens if they are accused of another crime. Policy allows MDOC to hold a person with a detainer up to 48 hours, and then MDOC would release them into the custody of the authorities who asked for the detainer.

“In Mr. Williams’ case, there was no detainer or warrant in Williams’ file. Without such detainer or warrant, MDOC could not lawfully detain Mr. Williams,” Cain said in the statement.

Spokespeople from Jackson police and the Hinds County district attorney’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

On Wednesday after Williams’ release, Hinds County Senior Circuit Court Judge Winston Kidd issued a bench warrant asking for Williams to be found and taken into custody from his last known address in Lexington.

“Jocquiez Williams was released inadvertently by MDOC and was not returned to the Hinds County Detention Center as proper protocol,” Kidd wrote.

Once found, Kidd said Williams will be held at the Raymond jail until he is brought before a judge to address the unindicted charges relating to Lindsey’s shooting death.

Williams has not been indicted for murder in Lindsey’s death or additional charges for the alleged kidnapping of a woman and her son and possession of a weapon as a convicted felon, according to court records. The woman, a former girlfriend of Williams and Lindsey, and her son were later found safe, local media reported.

In Mississippi, there is no timeline for a district attorney to seek indictment by a grand jury.

A spokesperson from the Hinds County District Attorney’s office did not respond to a request for comment about why it had not sought to indict Williams.

 

When he died, Lindsey Jr. had just celebrated his 24th birthday about a week earlier and was applying for jobs as a recent graduate of truck driving school.

Carolyn Lindsey said her son was the youngest of five children and the only boy. He liked to spend time with family, and he liked to ride horses and his four wheeler. Her son was kind and didn’t have a mean heart.

She said justice won’t bring her son back, but it could potentially bring closure for her family.

“He will be truly missed,” Carolyn Lindsey said. “There is not a day that goes by that I don’t think about him.”

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.