Shooting victim says police are intentionally ruining his case; The police chief rejects these claims

LINCOLN COUNTY, Miss. (WLBT) – On Wednesday, D’Monterrio Gibson stood with his supporters outside the Lincoln County Courthouse and expressed his desire to see justice.

The shooting incident occurred in January 2022.

Brandon Case and his father, Gregory Charles Case, were charged with attempted first-degree murder, conspiracy and shooting into the vehicle driven by Gibson.

While he was working as a FedEx driver, Gibson said the men shot him as he delivered a package in their Junior Trail neighborhood.

Gibson hopes he gets a fair trial and that the men accused of shooting him are held accountable, but said something is standing in the way of that.

He believes the Brookhaven police are deliberately trying to ruin his case.

“The real enemy is the Brookhaven Police Department,” Gibson said. “The police were very complicit and deliberately tried to ruin this case.”

When the case went to trial in August 2023, a judge declared the proceedings improper because Vincent Fernando, the lead investigator in the case, withheld evidence.

It has since been revealed that Fernando has turned over even more evidence, including bodycam footage he took with one of the suspects.

Although Fernando takes much of the blame for the mistrial, Gibson and his supporters don’t buy it.

“This is a case of deep corruption in which law enforcement not only failed to protect criminals, but actively worked to shield them and obstruct justice,” said Danyelle Holmes, a representative of the Poor People’s Campaign. committed and one of Gibson’s supporters. “The entire Brookhaven Police Department must be held accountable to justice in this role.”

Gibson and Holmes said they believe BPD is using Fernando as a scapegoat. “I actually think they do, just based on the way everything went in the beginning,” Gibson said. “Some of the things that Ms. Danyelle explained about who was assigned the case first and things like that, and then they entrusted it to him (Detective Fernando), and then all of a sudden evidence is missing and things like that.”, it’s obvious. “

“Although lead investigator Vincent Fernando thoroughly documented the evidence, he was denied access to key evidence and important information by the department’s information technology (IT) staff. In a shameful attempt to cover up her wrongdoings, the department does not plan to scapegoat her and blame her for her failures while attempting to hide the truth.”

While Gibson and his supporters blame and blame the police, Police Chief Kenneth Collins denies these claims.

Collins said his department has not intentionally withheld evidence in the case and will not do so.

“We are doing everything we can in this case,” said the chief. “Why would I want a child who was shot for doing his job, why wouldn’t I want justice? We’re not trying to hide anything. I don’t know any detective who would willingly hide evidence.”

A hearing was held earlier this month on whether Fernando’s testimony should be thrown out in the upcoming trial because he withheld evidence.

A judge is expected to issue his ruling on the decision on Thursday.

Want more WLBT news in your inbox? Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.

Do you see a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please Click here to report it and include the story headline in your email.

Copyright 2024 WLBT. All rights reserved.