A street fracas erupted in Charleston last Wednesday after a man indicted for first-degree murder in the April 2018 shooting death of his girlfriend entered an unexpected plea of not guilty during a circuit court hearing.
It was widely anticipated that Tracy Lee Jenkins Jr., 27, of 357 Mount Olive Road, Tillatoba, would plead guilty to the murder charge during open plea day Sept. 18 at the Tallahatchie County Courthouse in Charleston.
Jenkins reportedly struck a plea-bargain agreement with prosecutors that would have paved the way for a guilty plea, according to numerous sources.
Assistant District Attorney Steven Jubera would not comment Friday on the existence of a plea deal.
“He’s presumed innocent until found guilty,” Jubera noted. “We’ll put a jury in the box and let the truth speak for itself.”
Jubera said Jenkins’ trial has been scheduled for Oct. 8.
When Jenkins stood last week and entered a plea of not guilty, the reaction in the courtroom was palpable, according to eyewitnesses.
A sizable crowd of family members and friends of both Jenkins and the victim, 25-year-old Brandi Hunt of Crowder, were on hand for the proceedings.
After the plea was announced, some members of the crowd filed out of the courtroom, exited the courthouse and spilled onto the grounds and adjacent parking areas, according to police.
Many of them met up again in front of Regions Bank on North Court Square, Charleston Police Chief Justin Gammage said.
A local police officer was looking out a courthouse window and spotted the brewing altercation in the street, the chief explained.
“There were a lot of people from both the family of Miss Hunt and the family of Mr. Jenkins out there,” Gammage noted. “It was basically a heated exchange between the two families because of what they thought was going to go on in court.”
Gammage said Linda Hunt of Crowder, whom he identified as the aunt of Brandi Hunt, was seen striking another female. She was taken into custody, cited for assault and released, he said.
Brenda Hunt also was taken into custody, cited for disturbing the peace and released, Gammage added.
“None of them would calm down and leave until we took those two ladies into custody,” the chief noted.
Traffic in that area of North Court Square had to be diverted for “no more than 10 minutes” until the situation was resolved, Gammage said.
“We had to block off the street so nobody would get hit, because they were all out in the street,” he noted.
Despite reports, Gammage said there is no evidence that firearms were brandished during last week’s altercation.
“I did not see anybody out there with a gun, and we did not receive a call saying there was a gun out there,” he said.
Commenting on the fracas, Jubera said, “Law enforcement did an outstanding job making sure that mere words did not become extremely violent.”
Brandi Hunt suffered a single gunshot wound to the head during a supposed domestic incident April 20, 2018, outside the Marshall Street Apartments complex near Charleston, where she and Jenkins were said to be visiting.
Jenkins was initially charged with domestic violence aggravated assault in connection with the shooting, but the charge was upgraded to murder in the first degree after Hunt died on the evening of May 2 at Regional One Health (formerly The Med) in Memphis.
The criminal case has been punctuated by verbal and social media threats of violence, officials have noted.
Tallahatchie County Sheriff Jimmy Fly said Sept. 19 that security will be heightened for next month’s trial.
