By Leslie N. Dees
After two days of testimony and roughly three hours of jury deliberation, William Austin Branch, 20, was sentenced to life in prison for murder during circuit court at the Attala County Courthouse on Friday morning.
Branch was first charged with shooting his friend, Jacob Simmons, 20, in the head on April 23 after Attala County Sheriff’s Deputies found Simmons dead of a gunshot wound to the back of the head in a pasture near the Zemuly community.
The district attorney’s office relied heavily on the testimony of Greg Bowers, who was with Branch and Simmons that night.
Bowers testified that he was with Simmons at Mark Scott’s house in Kosciusko, and later after a phone call Branch and C.C. McClellan arrived.
He said that Branch and Simmons began fighting because Simmons believed Branch had been spreading rumors about his involvement in Joseph Stonestreet’s death, a friend.
Bowers attempted to pull them apart.
However, Branch said it wasn’t him but C.J. Frazier that was spreading the rumors.
After Simmons had an argument with Frazier on the phone, the four – Branch, McClellan, Simmons and Bowers got Branch’s truck and headed to Frazier’s home in Ethel.
No confrontation was made at Frazier’s home and they headed back to Scott’s house, took McClellan home in Lexington and the three headed back to Attala County.
They were headed out toward the Branch family farm to the trailer, which had no front door or running water.
Branch and friends sometimes stayed there instead of at his sister, Tyler’s home that she shared with her boyfriend, Brad Tubby and her child.
Bowers said they stopped at Tyler’s and Branch got the gun from Tubby’s truck.
Bowers said Branch was driving crazy and told him that he needed to pray.
Some cows had gotten out in the pasture and Branch asked Simmons to help him. They got out of the truck.
Bowers said he could see Austin in the headlights of the truck and then he heard a shot.
Before he knew it, Bowers said Branch was at the truck with the gun pointed at him.
Bowers said Branch told him that he killed Simmons for taking his Xanax.
Bower said he was also accused of taking the pills.
Fearing for his life, Bowers said he fled from the truck and ran into a wooded area, loosing his shoes along the way. He also got scrapes, which were photographed and shown to the jury.
According to Bowers testimony, they were using cocaine that night but he never saw Branch use the drug. Traces of cocaine were found in Simmons system through toxicology reports and Branch admitted to using the prescription drug.
Expert witnesses
Dr. Amy Gruszesky, a forensic pathologist with the Mississippi State Examiner’s office, took the stand as the one who performed Simmons autopsy.
She said the cause of death was injury to the brain due to a gunshot wound to the head and that it was a homicide.
The doctor added that it was a straight on shot that went from the back of the head to the front.
During the autopsy, a projectile from the gun was recovered for testing.
W.H. Jones with the Mississippi Crime Lab testified to the DNA samples taken from Branch and Simmons. The blood stain taken from Branch’s shirt matched Simmons’ DNA.
Starks Harthcock with the crime lab confirmed that the bullet and projectile taken from the autopsy matched the murder weapon.
Branch’s case
The defense’s case was based mainly on the testimony of the accused.
Taking the stand in his own defense, Branch’s story was similar to that of Bowers with a few exceptions.
When Branch arrived at Scott’s house, he said that Simmons was hollering and screaming at him and came at him with a garden trowel.
Branch said Simmons demanded to know why he was telling on him about killing his uncle, Danny Tavares.
He told Simmons it wasn’t him it was Frazier. Simmons then called Frazier and threatened to kill him.
Branch said he was forced to drive Bowers and Simmons to Frazier’s home in Ethel. The pair wrapped a crowbar and knife and their feet with material so no blood would be left in an altercation with Frazier.
He said Simmons demanded that he turn off his phone but he wanted to warn Frazier.
While driving, he said he heard Simmons telling Bowers it was time for him to “put in work,” a gang-related term for killing someone. However, no harm was done to Frazier and they returned to Kosciusko and then to Lexington. He said he couldn’t get the pair out of his truck.
On the way to his trailer, he stopped at his sister, Tyler’s home but no one would answer the door. He was hoping Tubby would help him get Bowers and Simmons out of his truck.
At that point, Branch said Simmons was looking at him and patting a tire iron.
Branch said he had no intentions of shooting anyone but got the gun from Tubby’s truck for protection at the trailer.
They found the cows were out in the pasture and Branch said he, alone, tried to move them.
He said Simmons, who had lived with him on and off for three years, had never helped with the cattle before.
Simmons followed him, he said, and when Simmons reached for the knife in his pocket, he shot.
No knife or Xanax was ever recovered.
He went back to the truck and Bowers offered to help him bury the body. Bowers, shortly thereafter, fled the scene.
Branch called his sister, Tyler, and she called the sheriff’s department and 911.
Fear of Simmons that night was justified to Branch because he said that Simmons was in the Crips gang and that he knew the handshakes and phrases. He also had a Crips tattoo.
He said Jacob was getting madder and madder about him snitching on his gang about the Tavares murder.
The jury was made up of one black male, four black females, five white females and two white males.
Additional testimony left out of the print edition will be added on the website by Friday.
