The alleged assailant of a local man who was shot Thursday night, Oct. 9, was already wanted on criminal charges out of Memphis, according to Tallahatchie County Sheriff Jimmy Fly.
The sheriff said the shooting occurred shortly before 7 on Quarter Mill Road near Sumner. Responding deputies found Morris Fairlee, 62, of Tutwiler, lying in the roadway, suffering from what appeared to be a single gunshot wound to his left arm near the bicep, Fly noted.
Fairlee was transported by ambulance to Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center in Clarksdale and later flown to The Med in Memphis, the sheriff said.
Melvin Smith, aka Melvin Wise, 53, of 1214 Quarter Mill Road, Sumner, is the primary suspect, noted Fly.
“From the scene, we recovered two .380 shell casings in the road and also two .380 live rounds near the front door of 1214 Quarter Mill Road, which is where the suspect was staying,” he said.
Officials recovered a Hi-Point .380 semiautomatic pistol near the area of the shooting, Fly added.
Those items have been sent for forensic investigation.
The sheriff said Fairlee and Smith reportedly were at odds over something prior to the day of the shooting.
“It appears there had been an altercation, some kind of beef between the two, over the last several days,” Fly noted. “We have talked to people who confirmed that.”
Smith was not at the scene of the Thursday shooting as deputies arrived, but Fly said officials were able to make contact with him the following day.
“That’s when we learned that he was wanted out of Memphis for grand larceny,” said Fly. “He was interviewed on this matter and then was taken into custody to be held for the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, Smith remained incarcerated at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Tutwiler while awaiting extradition to Memphis.
While the local shooting is still under investigation, Fly noted that it is expected Smith will be charged in the crime.
