Officers with the Grenada Police Department arrested Usher Sawyer III, 65, of Perry Avenue, last week in connection with the murder of Kevin Beckom, 49, of Kilmichael. The murder took place Sunday night, June 5, in Winona.
According to Police Chief George Douglas, the GPD received information of a possible murder suspect. Officers preceded to Sawyer’s residence in the neighborhood of Perry Avenue. Once Sawyer was spotted, he was apprehended last Monday by officers without incident. Winona Police Department officers, along with deputies with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, took Sawyer into custody and transported him back to Winona. He has been charged with first-degree murder of Beckom by the WPD.
Winona Police Chief Roshaun Daniels said officers were called to a home in the 200 block of Cameron Street in Winona in reference to shots fired. Daniels said the witness at the scene told officers the men had been laughing and talking all night. The witness said that Sawyer called Beckom outside. The witness stated that after the two men went out, they heard shots being fired.
Daniels said the shots were fired from a .45 caliber handgun and officers found two shell casings. He said Beckom was shot in the abdomen and Coroner Alan Pratt pronounced him dead on the scene at 1:41 a.m.
Daniels said the reason the shooting took place remains unknown. Sawyer remains in custody in the Carroll-Montgomery Regional Correctional Facility.
Beckom’s body was sent to Jackson for an autopsy. The murder investigation continues.
