Arrest made, others possible in Byram homicide

On the day Felix Garth would have turned 42, a $5,000 reward still stands in what is still an active investigation into his the shooting death despite a break in the case Thursday.

Garth, whose birthday is June 27, was found shot in the face on his couch in late May. On Thursday, his stepdaughter, Marie Redd, 18, was arrested and charged with murder. Redd is being held on $1.25 million  bond.

Byram police chief Luke Thompson said his department is not releasing further information, but added he has not ruled out further arrests.

Redd's mother, Khristina Garth, said her daughter is innocent and that she believes that Byram police have made several mistakes in the investigation, citing the way gunshot residue tests and polygraphs were administered, though she said no gunshot residue was found on any of the family members who were tested.

"We all loved him in this house and we would never do anything to hurt Felix or harm him or anything," she said. "This (has) just devastated our whole family. He was the head of the household, he provided for us financially and spiritually. This is a great loss and a very hard loss to our family. The kids were devastated and mourning for the loss of their stepfather."

And that reward still applies: Up to $5,000  to anyone who can provide information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone else responsible for Garth's death.

Marie Redd does not have a large circle of friends, nor does she have boyfriends, Khristina Garth said, adding that her daughter is driven to succeed in work and at school. She said there were conflicts in the home, but they weren't any different than any family with teenagers. She said she's confused, but almost encouraged that further arrests could be made.

"I feel that they’re going down the wrong road, so I’m kind of happy to hear there may be more arrests," she said. "I’m actually relieved, because that may possibly help my child."

Meanwhile, friends, family, and coworkers of Garth say his place in  the world is still glaringly empty.

Felix Garth Sr. said Father's Day was especially hard without his son, who usually sent him a silly card each year. He said some activities they enjoyed together will never be the same.

"He loved to crack jokes," he said. "He always had something goofy to send me. I have a picture of an older man with a little boy, going fishing, and it reminds me of him. I started him fishing from the time he was 2  or 3  years old, and he truly loved it."

Felix Garth Sr. can still recall the four sports his son lettered in when he was in high school, as well as the ones he played and didn't letter in. He tells the story of how his son was delivered one week short of eight months along, and how he excelled in campus leadership when he got older.

Garth's longtime friend, former NAACP president and CEO Ben Jealous, met Garth when the two were working together against Gov. Kirk Fordice, who he said was trying to close down Alcorn State and make Mississippi Valley State into a prison.

He called Garth "the one person I could always count on."

"When I was a young organizer on the campaign in Jackson and was getting death threats, Felix was the one person who would stay awake while I slept," he said. "He was a groomsman in my wedding, I was the best man in his. He was one of the very best men I knew."

That feeling of safety that Felix Garth brought was one that Khristina Garth knew as well.

"I just miss having my best friend and my soulmate and my support. He was my strength when things were bad and if I had a bad day, I could always go to him and he knew how to make me feel that everything was going to be okay and feel protected – he protected us," she said.

Garth worked at the Catholic Diocese in Jackson, where his father said he managed the restoration of St. Peters Cathedral. His employer Aad Delang said he never turned down a project. Even when the need was hours away, Garth found a way to take care of it.

"I worked with Felix for three years, and I don't remember hearing a no. He always just said, 'Sure, boss,'" Delang said. "The diocese is geographically 40,000 miles. Whenever there was a problem, he'd hop in his car and see what he could do. Looking back, it's amazing that one man could do all those things."

Delang said Felix was indispensable to the diocese.

"You meet people in your life that you really appreciate, and he was one of those people," he said. "We were very different in a lot of ways. I'm from the Netherlands, he was from St. Louis, but we developed a common vision on how to make things better. You could call him in the middle of the night, and he was there to fix the problem."

Garth was the first black Grand Knight of the Knights of Columbus in the state of Mississippi, his father said. Jealous said he was always trying to find ways to make the world a better place.

"This is a guy who has spent more than 20 years helping people in Jackson, as an organizer in college, he did it with the Knights of Columbus, as the staff of the Catholic Diocese," he said. "That’s the real loss here is that we’ve lost someone who is dedicated to serving the people of Jackson with all his heart."

Those who loved him knew that.

"I would say I was proud to say I had met Felix," Delang said. "And I think Felix is probably already discussing with the Master Architect on how to change Heaven over to LED lighting. He had so many plans he wanted to do."

One of those plans, Jealous said, was to be reunited with his children.

"I think the thing that’s the most painful to me is that he had gone through a tough divorce and hadn’t seen his biological children for several years and had always hoped to reunite with them," Jealous said. "I helped him work on that. It’s heartbreaking that those children won’t see their father again, because they loved him so much and he loved them so much, it’s such a heartbreak for everyone, it’s just tearing me apart."

Jealous said he hopes the reward will give someone the impetus to tell police what they know, because someone knows something, he said.

"Felix was a gift to the world, and a gift to Mississippi, and someone who saw Jackson and Mississippi as home in everything that he did," he said. "I just pray that folks will come forward with what they know."

Khristina Garth declined to talk about what happened during the time period surrounding Felix Garth's death, citing the ongoing investigation, but said she couldn't think of anyone who would want to harm him.

If you know anything about Felix Garth's death, please call Byram Police at 601-372-7747 or to leave an anonymous tip, call Crimestoppers at 601-355-TIPS (8477).

RELATED: Teen killed in Byram shooting ID'd

Contact Therese Apel at tapel@gannett.com. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.