Published: July 02, 2009 08:44 am      

Picayune man shot

PICAYUNE — A Picayune resident apparently was shot in the head but is in stable condition.

Hancock County Investigator H. Matthew Carver said the victim, Adam Lepine, 23, of Picayune, is in stable condition but is expected to be paralyzed from the neck down.

Lepine was found on June 19, in his vehicle in a ditch on Miss. 43 S. with a gunshot wound to the head after the department responded to a call from a concerned citizen, according to a press release from the department. The vehicle was found in the area of James Street and Miss 43 S. in the Catahoula community.

Lepine was transported to Highland Community Hospital in Picayune and later transported to Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg.

Through witness statements and an investigation the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department established 21 year-old Dentist J-Marcus Brown, of the Catahoula Community as a suspect in the shooting, the release states. Carver said a motive for the shooting is still under investigation.

Brown was charged with aggravated assault, Carver said. Brown has since been released on a $150,000 bond. Carver said Mississippi does not have an attempted murder charge, only murder and aggravated assault, the later applied to this case.