Greenwood, MS – Detroit native Eddie Lee Brown, Jr. pled guilty to second degree murder of twenty-three (23) year old Tyree Jernigan a firefighter with the Greenwood Fire Department as well as possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Brown had at least one prior conviction from Michigan. He was indicted by the April 2017 grand jury for first degree murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Officers with the Greenwood Police Department responded to a call of shots fired at a house on Percy Street in Greenwood, Mississippi. After apprehending the shooter, Brown, at Greenwood Leflore Hospital, officers processed the scene and discovered the shotgun that Brown used to shoot Tyree Jernigan. After two days of trial with testimony from two of the responding police officers, three experts from the Mississippi Crime Lab, and six witnesses who identified Brown as the person who opened fire on Percy Street killing Tyree Jernigan, Brown chose to plead guilty to the lesser included charge of second degree murder as well as possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Based on the evidence that he had previously heard as well as testimony during the sentencing hearing from Brown, his mother, Tyree Jernigan’s widow, Tierney, and Tyree Jernigan’s father, Sam, Leflore County Senior Circuit Judge Ashley Hines sentenced Eddie Lee Brown, Jr. to twenty-five (25) years to be served as twenty (20) years in the Mississippi Department of Corrections and five (5) years on post release supervision. Brown was also sentenced to ten (10) years in the Mississippi Department of Corrections on the possession of a firearm by a convicted felon to run concurrently to the second degree murder sentence.
Under Mississippi law, second degree murder carries a minimum sentence of twenty (20) years and a maximum of forty (40) years in the Mississippi Department of Corrections. In addition, the Mississippi statute for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon carries a minimum sentence of one (1) year and a maximum of ten (10) years in the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
When he had a chance to speak at the sentencing hearing, the victim’s father, Sam Jernigan, thanked the State and the Court for helping to give him and his family closure so that they can begin healing. He also said that “this process had restored his faith in the justice system.”
Contact: W. Dewayne Richardson District Attorney, Fourth Circuit Court District | 662-378-2105