SERVICES TODAY FOR SLAIN OFFICER

Authorities Now Say Drugs Found At Site Of Shooting

Slain Prentiss police officer Ron Jones will be laid to rest today while
the circumstances surrounding a drug raid that soured are investigated.

Services will be at 1 p.m. at Saulters-Moore Funeral Home with burial in
Dublin Cemetery.

Jones, 29, was fatally shot around 11 p.m. Wednesday as he attempted to
execute a search warrant for drugs at a duplex on Mary Street.

Authorities on Thursday said no drugs were found at the scene. They now say
a small amount of crack cocaine, marijuana, drug residue and paraphernalia
was found on both sides of the duplex.

Although Jones was wearing a bullet-resistant vest, a small-caliber bullet
struck him in the abdomen, just below the vest.

Cory Maye, 21, of Monticello is charged with capital murder in connection
with the shooting and was being held without bond Friday in the Forrest
County jail. A preliminary hearing is set for Jan. 24. Misdemeanor drug
charges are expected to be added at a later date, authorities said.

Jamie Smith, 21, of Prentiss, who lived on the other side of the duplex and
surrendered without incident, was charged with two counts of the sale of a
controlled substance - cocaine and crack cocaine. He was being held in the
Jefferson County jail on Friday. Bond was set at $50,000.

Authorities had said Thursday that a juvenile was found at the scene.

Jefferson Davis County Sheriff Henry McCullum said Friday that a
13-year-old boy had been dropped off at Smith's apartment by the boy's
parents so they could grocery shop.

Jones initiated the paperwork for the warrant, which was signed by Prentiss
Municipal Court Judge Donald Kruger Wednesday night.

Kruger would not comment on the case.

Marvin Cooper, commander of the Pearl River Basin Narcotics Task Force,
said Jones obtained his information from a confidential informant.

"I know (Jones) received a call," Cooper said. "I don't know if he met with
(the informant) prior to the agents getting together."

Cooper said Jones routinely provided information to the task force that led
to arrests.

"Most of the cases we made there were by his assistance," Cooper said.

He praised Jones for his commitment to duty.

"He was a diligent officer," Cooper said. "He made a lot of cases for us."

The task force, with headquarters in Columbia, is comprised of six agents
who serve Jefferson Davis, Lawrence, Marion and Lamar counties.

Police officers and sheriff's deputies from the four counties add to the
task force's manpower.

Cooper said he wasn't there when the search warrant was executed at the
duplex but, from what he's heard, it was "pretty much textbook."

"Hindsight is 20/20," Cooper said. "If 100 officers were out there, I don't
think (the outcome) would have been any different."

Jones was joined by a task force agent and six others - officers from the
Bassfield and Prentiss police departments and sheriff's deputies from
Jefferson Davis and Marion counties.

There is no good time to execute a warrant, said Frazial Williams,
assistant director of administration for the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics.

"Circumstances can cause it to happen at any time," Williams said.

MBN agents, who had no part in this operation, execute most of their arrest
warrants early in the morning, catching sleeping targets off guard, he said.

It's best to execute a search warrant in the daytime, "but sometimes
darkness can be our friend," Williams said.

Generally speaking, he said, an agent may get information from an informant
that requires the agency to move quickly.

This search warrant was executed between 10:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. Wednesday.

After the officers announced their presence, Jones was the first to enter
Maye's duplex apartment.

Gunfire erupted and Jones fell. He died en route to a local hospital.

Cooper said agents were unfamiliar with Maye, and one must always be on
guard for weapons.

Jefferson Davis County District Attorney Buddy McDonald would not discuss
the case.

The district attorney's office and the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol
are investigating the shooting.

Monticello lawyer Robert Evans, appointed to represent Maye, could not be
reached for comment.

Jones comes from a long line of law enforcement officers.

His father is Prentiss Police Chief Ronald Jones. His grandfather, the late
Hollis Jones, served as Prentiss police chief from 1959-1974, and his
uncle, the late Gary Jones, served as Jefferson Davis County sheriff from
1978-1988.

Jones served with the Prentiss Police Department for four years and was a
K-9 officer. He also served in the National Guard.