JUDGE DENIES BOND IN DEATH OF LAW OFFICER

PRENTISS - A Jefferson Davis County judge denied bond Thursday for a
Monticello man charged with capital murder in the shooting death Wednesday
of a Prentiss police officer. Officer Ron Jones, 29, was part of an
eight-officer team raiding two apartments on Mary Street in downtown
Prentiss on drug warrants when he was shot.

Justice Court Judge Jerry Dyess denied bond for Corey J. Maye, 21, who is
being housed in the Forrest County Regional Jail. Maye listed Monticello as
his hometown, but told the judge he had rented the Mary Street apartment
two months ago. Maye said he did not have a job.

Dumas said Jones, who was in the lead going into Maye's apartment, was
about to enter a bedroom where Maye was when he was shot. The bullet struck
Jones below his bullet-proof vest, said Prentiss Mayor Charley Dumas.

Maye was in the apartment with his 1-year-old daughter. Neither Maye nor
the child were hurt.

The officers, armed with search warrants, were looking for illegal drugs,
and did not return fire in the apartment, Dumas said.

Jones is the son of Prentiss Police Chief Ronald Jones.

"Everybody is extremely shaken up," Dumas said, speaking on behalf of the
police department and Jones' family.

"This is really tough on the officers," he said. "They told me that Ron
spun around and told them he had been hit, then he went out the back door
and collapsed on the ground. Two officers put him in the car and rushed him
to the hospital."

He was later pronounced dead at Prentiss Regional Hospital.

Jones is the third law officer in less than five years to be killed in the
line of duty in Jefferson Davis County. He is the first officer from the
Prentiss Police Department to be killed in the line of duty.

Jefferson Davis Sheriff's deputy, Tommy Bourne, 41, and jailer, J.P.
Rutland, 53, were killed Feb. 21, 1997, when an inmate they were
transporting to a state prison took Rutland's gun and shot Bourne and Rutland.

Dumas said the Wednesday night detail involved Prentiss police, the Pearl
River Basin Narcotics Task Force and the Jefferson Davis County Sheriff's
Department.

"It was more or less a routine type of raid," Dumas said.

Dumas said Jones "absolutely loved doing his job. Ron wouldn't have been
happy doing anything else."

Maye was arrested by other officers on the scene and taken to Forrest
County Regional Jail at the request of Jefferson Davis County Sheriff Henry
McCullum.

"They have a more secure facility and trained guards and jailers there,"
McCullum said about his decision. "This was also done for his (Maye) safety."

Monticello Attorney Robert Evans was appointed to represent Maye, but Evans
was not present at the first appearance. Judge Dyess set a preliminary
hearing date for Maye's charges on Jan. 24, where the state will produce
evidence against him.

Police also raided a duplex apartment next door to Maye's, taking two
individuals, one a juvenile, into custody for questioning after the shooting.

District Attorney Buddy McDonald said he's not sure if drug charges will be
filed against the two.

Maye's neighbor, Audrey Davis, said police came into her apartment
searching for drugs when they took her boyfriend and a juvenile staying at
her apartment in for questioning.

"I didn't hear any shots whatsoever," she said. "He (Maye) has a gun that
sits on his dresser, but he has papers for it."

She said that she is best friends with Maye's girlfriend, who is the mother
of his 1-year-old daughter.

"Police officers were tearing stuff up and cussing at folks," she said.
"They think they startled him and that's why he shot the gun."

Jones, who was single and had no children, was a canine officer who had
been on the five-man force for four years. His father was unavailable for
comment.

Dumas said the family is being allowed time to grieve.

"I told him to take as much time as he needs," Dumas said.

The mayor said no one has decided what to do with Jones' dog, a black
Labrador Retriever named Buzz.

"We'll probably have to retire him," he said.