Deputies called after shots fired Monday night

Sheriff Dennis Meeks confirmed Monday night his department was investigating the death of a woman in the Rose Hill community.

Deputies were called responded to a shots fired call on Driver Road at about 5 p.m. Monday. The victim was unresponsive and pronounced dead at the scene.

“We are actively investigating a death that occurred on Driver Road in the Rose Hill community,” Meeks said.

He declined to release the victim’s name, or further details Monday night, as deputies, assisted by the district attorney’s office, were still investigating.

The department had one person in custody for questioning. The Star-News will update this story on its website as more information becomes available.

If the death is ruled a murder, it would be the fifth in Covington County this year.

This summer, there were four murders in a period of 62 days, with two more found dead on the Butler County side of the Covington/Butler County line. Arrests have been made in all but one of the murders.

No arrest has been made in the June 2 death of Zadarios Arlyic McCaskill, 22, who died of an apparent gunshot wound to the chest at the Soggy Bottom Tavern.

On Wednesday, June 20, deputies noticed a car had been burned at a residence on Brooklyn Road. They found the body of Bruce Nelson near the vehicle. In August, James Benton Horn, 50, was charged with his murder.

On July 13, the Opp Police Department found the body of an Elba man, Louis Swinger, who had been missing for a week. Four individuals were charged in his death. They included Bomaro V. Head, Dayshawn D. Siler, Kali Jamar Siler and Kenyatta Carstarphen. Each was charged with murder and held on a $500,000 bond.

On August 3, a 911 caller reported that J.J. Mount died near Hayslette Bridge on Oakey Streak Road after two suspects came out of the woods and shot him. Four people were charged with murder and released on $500,000 bonds. They included Tammy A. Bush, 55; Jonathon A. Bush, 29; Joseph Vernon Armstrong, 72; and Christopher Bradley Bush, 43.