Girlfriend shot Hinds deputy, then self, coroner says

Madison County Coroner Alex Breeland said the death of a Hinds County deputy and his girlfriend discovered Wednesday evening was a murder/suicide.

Breeland said "very conclusive" forensic evidence pointed to Lekrisna Myers, a nurse at the Hinds County Detention Center in Raymond, as having shot Deputy Darryl Davis and then herself.

Wednesday afternoon, Madison County deputies found the bodies of Myers, 28, and Davis, 26, in her Northwind subdivision home in Gluckstadt.

"I don't care how brave you are, or how good you can shoot, you just can't prepare yourself for this," Hinds County Sheriff Victor Mason said Thursday about the death of his deputy, who he described as "a good guy, a really nice person."

Sheriff Randy Tucker said they were found after the Hinds County Sheriff's Department requested a welfare check because the two had not made it to work.

Mason said Davis' coworkers knew there was a problem almost immediately when he didn't show up for work. He was never late, Mason said.

When Madison County deputies entered Myers' home at 120 Clearview Drive, they found the couple, along with a semi-automatic 9mm handgun owned by the Hinds Sheriff's Department.

Authorities were careful not to speculate on the manner of death pending autopsy, saying that the scene was consistent with murder/suicide, but they would not classify it as such.

The sheriff, whose eyes filled with tears many times during the briefing, not only knew Davis but also had served in the Jackson Police Department with Davis' mother.

"I knew Darryl as a good police officer, a good sheriff's deputy," Mason said. "I'd call him and say, 'Come see me,' and his heart would get to pounding, and I'd say, 'I just want to see you.'"

Mason said Davis "cared about everyone." He described him as "one of the best officers I could have, he never had any problems." Davis' photo is on a trailer that the department uses for publicity, Mason said.

"He was a model officer ... I never had to get on to him for anything," he said.

The last time the sheriff saw his deputy was Sunday when they were doing community outreach in the wake of Jackson's water crisis. Davis seemed happy.

Myers' supervisor, Anina Naylor, described Myers as a "good nurse and a good person," also.

Madison County Sheriff Randy Tucker said Thursday his deputies had been called to Myers' residence at least once before for a domestic dispute but said there was no physical violence in that situation.

"We just send all our prayers out to the families," Mason said, adding that the families need to be given space and privacy to grieve. "We don't have enough arms to stretch out to pray for them."

Contact Therese Apel  at 601-961-7236 or tapel@gannett.com . Follow her on Facebook  and Twitter .