Teen's death under investigation

The Marshall County Sheriff’s Department, with help from other law enforcement agencies, is pushing hard to find answers in the fatal shooting of a 13year-old female Saturday night, according to sheriff Kenny Dickerson.

He said his officers went to a residence off Embry Road in the Byhalia area after receiving a call from Methodist Hospital Olive Branch that a girl had a single gunshot wound to the stomach area. The victim was airlifted from Methodist to LeBonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., where she was later pronounced dead, the sheriff said.

Dickerson said the sheriff’s department has not confirmed if the residence under investigation is where the victim lived, but it is known that is where the shooting took place.

The body is in Jackson at the crime lab awaiting autopsy, he said.

Investigating the shooting at the residence were Marshall County deputies, a K-9 unit, and agents with the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Fugitive Task Force and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobbaco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Dickerson said the investigation is ongoing in an attempt to determine what happened at the residence. He said the incident is being treated as a homicide.

Maj. Kelly McMillen, investigator with the sheriff’s department, said authorities did recover a gun inside the residence that is believed to be the one used in the shooting.

The girl’s parents are cooperating with investigators, the sheriff said.

No person of interest or suspect had been identified as of Monday afternoon.

Dickerson said information is sketchy at this time and his office is offering a substantial reward for information that may move the investigation forward.

Anyone who has information regarding this shooting is asked to call the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department at 662-252-1311 and ask to speak to the sheriff or investigators.