Cloverdale shooting leaves one dead, others injured

Published 4:55 pm Thursday, December 21, 2017

NATCHEZ — An Adams County man was charged with murder late Thursday after allegedly shooting one woman and injuring three other people earlier in the day.

The suspect, 63-year-old Leroy Henderson, was in custody shortly after the shooting, the Adams County Sheriff’s Office reported. He was later charged with murder and was being held in the Adams County Jail late Thursday.

The attack left Jeanette Proby, 48, dead of a gunshot wound, one man seriously injured from a gunshot wound to the chest, one man with a gunshot wound to his leg and one woman with a stab wound in her palm, sheriff’s deputies reported.

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The crimes occurred at two locations — houses on Lower Woodville Road and on Mazique Lane.

Investigators believe Henderson shot Proby at the Lower Woodville Road house, then fled to Mazique Lane.

Sheriff Travis Patten said officers cornered Henderson on Mazique Lane.

“When that call came out, units were in the area of the first location within minutes,” Patten said. “We had patrol deputies respond, transport officers, narc units — somebody from every division converged on that area until they located the suspect, who was exiting the vehicle with weapon in hand.”

Patten said a sheriff’s deputy approached Henderson and convinced him to surrender the weapon without any further violence.

“My boys remained poised and calm in total chaos and were able to save that life,” Patten said. “My heart goes out to the family and the loved ones especially in this time of year. I have to thank the men and women of the ASCO for their response. It’s a tragedy, but the men and women of ASCO kept it from being worse.”

Chief Deputy Jerry Brown said the victims and the alleged shooter were relatives.

Proby was pronounced dead at the scene of the Lower Woodville Road residence. Brown said Thursday evening the names of other victims were not being released yet.

Xavier Bates said Proby was his cousin.

“This is right before Christmas,” Bates said. “This is sad.”

Bates said much of his family lives on Lower Woodville Road and that he was close to the deceased.

“She doesn’t mess with anybody,” he said. “She was peaceful.”

Lt. Cal Green of the ASCO said officers believed the incident started in a house on Lower Woodville Road, where Proby was killed.

Henderson allegedly left the house in a gold SUV and went to 8 Mazique Lane, where two more people were reportedly shot.

Green said one man was seriously injured with a chest wound and another man had a gunshot wound to the leg.

The wounded were transported to regional and Jackson hospitals.

A crowd quickly formed around the little brick house on Lower Woodville Road, where coroner’s office personnel removed Proby’s body.

The house, where officers and neighbors say the conflict began, sits just yards away from Bright Morning Star Baptist Church.

A crowd of approximately 40 people milled about the outskirts of the scene.

Some cried; others watched solemnly. Still others talked among themselves, with a wary eye on the scene across the street.

The Rev. Michelle Brooks, the pastor of Bright Morning Star, said he arrived soon after the altercation had ended.

“When the lady got stabbed, they were outside yelling, the family,” Brooks said. “They flagged me down and asked me to help direct traffic until the police got there.”

Brooks has been a pastor for 10 years, four of which have been at the Cloverdale church.

Brooks said the family that lives in the house used to attend his church services regularly and that he knows them all fairly well.

“This is a tragedy. All the folks here are family,” Brooks said. “This affects the whole community. All the people out here will be at the funeral.”

Brooks said he had seen the family next door on Wednesday.

“They were all in the yard yesterday talking and laughing,” he said. “How do you go from there to … ”

Editor’s note: The story has been updated to reflect that the relationship between Henderson and Proby is unclear.