COPIAH COUNTY, Miss. — The bodies of a Brandon family found dead in Copiah County has been sent to the state crime lab for autopsy. Copiah County Sheriff Harold Jones said their accused killer, Timothy Burns, lead police to a shack in a rural area of the county where the bodies were found. Burns is being charged with arson and is being held for questioning in the murders.
Atira Smith, Laterry Smith, and 7-year-old Jaidon Hill appeared to have been shot according to television station WJTV. The family was first reported missing Friday after their car was found burnt in a ditch in Copiah County.
Over the weekend someone tried to use the family’s ATM card in Port Gibson. Also, personal items, including the mother’s ID, were found in a dumpster in South Jackson on Monday.
Sheriff Jones would not confirm when the family was murdered or a motive.
“That will come out in the investigation as we get into it. We are just early in it now, this isn’t law and order. This isn’t street crime one day, Supreme Court the next. This is long tedious stuff,” said Jones.
The MBI is assisting the sheriff’s department in the investigation.
