Teen dies shielding cousin from gunfire

Associated Press

BROOKHAVEN, MISS.

It was after midnight when a gunman burst into the living room of a southern Mississippi home where young people were playing video games.

Caleb Edwards, 15, said the man – whom he knows as Corey Godbolt – demanded to know where his cousin’s parents where. Jordan Blackwell, 18, said they were gone to another town.

At that, Godbolt “just started shooting,” Caleb said.

As people scrambled to hide inside the Brookhaven home, Blackwell used his own body to shield his cousin Caleb from the gunfire.

With his mother standing by his side Monday, Caleb spoke calmly as he recounted to The Associated Press how he felt the force of the impact as Blackwell was shot Sunday.

“He loved me enough to take some bullets for me,” Caleb said.

Caleb’s 11-year-old brother, Austin Edwards, was also shot to death in that living room early Sunday. They were among the eight people killed in three houses in a rampage that started late Saturday after law-enforcement officers were called about a domestic dispute. A deputy sheriff was among those killed. The other seven were all relatives or acquaintances of the accused shooter.

Investigators said Willie Corey Godbolt, 35, will be charged with one count of capital murder and seven counts of first degree murder. Mississippi Bureau of Investigation spokesman Warren Strain said the charges could change as the investigation continues.

Godbolt was hospitalized with a gunshot wound and was in good condition Monday; it wasn’t clear who shot him. He could make an initial court appearance Tuesday.

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation identified some of those killed as: Barbara Mitchell, 55; Brenda May, 53; Tocarra May, 35; Ferral Burage, 45; and Shelia Burage, 46; and deputy William Durr, 36. The parents of Austin Edwards and Jordan Blackwell identified their sons as the other victims.

At least seven hours elapsed between the first shootings and Godbolt’s arrest near the final crime scene, in a subdivision of ranch houses.

Godbolt told The Clarion-Ledger he hadn’t planned to be captured alive. “My intentions was to have God kill me. I ran out of bullets,” he said. “Suicide by cop was my intention.”