JACKSON, Miss. – A Mississippi sheriff says a man was beaten and shot two weeks after calling authorities to report a cross burning in his yard, and investigators are trying to determine whether the attack was prompted by people being upset that the man was visited by his mixed-race grandchildren.
Deputies were called to a disturbance Friday night in a rural community outside Raleigh. Craig Wilson, 45, had been shot in the stomach and beaten and was taken to University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, said Smith County Sheriff Charlie Crumpton. He was in fair condition Tuesday, a hospital spokesman said.
Investigators heard numerous reports from relatives about what might have started a confrontation between Wilson and 37-year-old Jeff Daniels, Crumpton said. Among other things, the sheriff said investigators were checking whether it might have been connected to people being upset about visits from Wilson’s mixed-race grandchildren. The children’s mother – Craig Wilson’s daughter – is white, and their father is black, the sheriff said.
Crumpton said Daniels was arrested Friday and booked with aggravated assault. He was released Monday on $20,000 bond.
Wilson and Daniels are both white. The victim is the boyfriend of the arrested man’s mother, Crumpton said.