Published: April 23, 2008 01:56 pm      

Man killed by deputy

Brookhaven — Authorities say the Bogue Chitto man who was fatally shot by a sheriff’s deputy was allegedly holding an infant under water when the shooting occurred.

Curtney Levorce Gayten was killed Monday by a Lincoln County sheriff’s deputy at a house near Bookhaven. He was pronounced dead at the scene by Lincoln County Corner Clay McMorris.

The child was taken to King’s Daughters Medical Center in Brookhaven and later transferred to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. It was not clear if the child was related to Gayten. The child’s name and condition was not released.

“This is the first time that we’ve had a police-related death that I can remember since I’ve been deputy coroner or coroner since 1995,” McMorris said.

Sheriff Steve Rushing said the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation will look into the shooting. The deputy, whose name was not released, is on paid leave.

Rushing said his office received a call about 11:23 a.m. with a complaint that a man with a gun was holding a 3-week-old child in a pond.

The callers said that Gayten was standing in waist-deep water in the pond and allegedly alternately dunking the child in the water.

When the deputy arrived, Rushing said, he did not see the child, because Gayten was allegedly holding the child under water.

During the confrontation with Gayten, he said, events escalated and the deputy shot Gayten. Rushing said deputies went into the pond to get Gayten, the child and the gun that Gayten was holding.

Rushing said deputies performed CPR on the child until an ambulance arrived.

BROOKHAVEN (AP) — Authorities say the Bogue Chitto man who was fatally shot by a sheriff’s deputy was allegedly holding an infant under water when the shooting occurred.

Curtney Levorce Gayten was killed Monday by a Lincoln County sheriff’s deputy at a house near Bookhaven. He was pronounced dead at the scene by Lincoln County Corner Clay McMorris.

The child was taken to King’s Daughters Medical Center in Brookhaven and later transferred to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. It was not clear if the child was related to Gayten. The child’s name and condition was not released.

“This is the first time that we’ve had a police-related death that I can remember since I’ve been deputy coroner or coroner since 1995,” McMorris said.

Sheriff Steve Rushing said the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation will look into the shooting. The deputy, whose name was not released, is on paid leave.

Rushing said his office received a call about 11:23 a.m. with a complaint that a man with a gun was holding a 3-week-old child in a pond.

The callers said that Gayten was standing in waist-deep water in the pond and allegedly alternately dunking the child in the water.

When the deputy arrived, Rushing said, he did not see the child, because Gayten was allegedly holding the child under water.

During the confrontation with Gayten, he said, events escalated and the deputy shot Gayten. Rushing said deputies went into the pond to get Gayten, the child and the gun that Gayten was holding.

Rushing said deputies performed CPR on the child until an ambulance arrived.