CLARKSDALE, Miss. — A 15-year-old was fatally shot in Clarksdale, Mississippi on Monday afternoon.
Clarksdale Police said officers responded to a burglary call in the 1200 block of West Second Street at 4:30 Monday. We were told it was at the home of Andrew Bankhead, a former Clarksdale Police officer.
When they arrived, they found a male juvenile with a gunshot wound in a neighboring yard. He was later pronounced dead.
Jacqueline Rash, the victim’s mother, identified the teen as Cornelius McGee.
“I heard shots, went to Walmart, came back, and just rode around that way, saw three ambulances out there, police everywhere, tape everywhere,” she said.
Rash says her son committed no crime and believes he was shot because he was dating Bankhead’s daughter and Bankhead caught him at the house Monday, but police have not confirmed that.
“And the daughter. They said he was there with the daughter, she let him in the house, so they said it was a burglary but it wasn’t a break-in. The daughter let him in the house,” she said.
According to McGee’s mother, her son was shot in the back while fleeing the house and climbing over a neighbor’s fence.
“He was a good kid. He was real respectful,” Rash said. “A people person. Everybody loved him. Everybody loved him.”
What happened came as a huge shock to Julius Voss, Andrew Bankhead’s first cousin.
“He was a police officer for the Clarksdale Police and he has another job,” Voss said. “We was here Saturday barbequing and I talked to him Sunday,” he said.
Voss said the weekend event was a celebration. Monday afternoon, Voss asked Bankhead what happened.
“He had been involved in a shooting, that someone had broke into his house and he defended his self,” Voss said.
The MBI is handling the investigation and has not released a motive for the shooting.
No arrests have been made, MBI said.
We reached out to Clarksdale Mayor Chuck Espy for a comment. He said there is a town hall meeting Tuesday at 5:30 at the Civic Auditorium.
It was the latest round of violence in the small town. early Sunday, 14 people were shot after an altercation at a concert spilled out onto Delta Avenue.
