A Hancock deputy shot a 21-year-old 5 times. His ‘devastated’ family fights for justice.

A Georgia pastor and his wife want justice after their son’s death at the hands of a Hancock County sheriff’s deputy.

The Rev. Dwight Winkley, and his wife, Catherine Winkley, hired Brandon, Mississippi attorney Lance Stevens to represent them in a wrongful death lawsuit over the killing of their son, Isaiah Winkley, 21.

“The Winkley family is devastated,” Stevens said. “They have hopes the judicial system will provide accountability for the shooting death of their son.”

The Winkleys, of Morehead, Georgia, have put Hancock County and Sheriff Ricky Adam on notice of the pending lawsuit in an intent-to-sue letter filed by the family’s attorney. The family plans to ask for at least $500,000 in damages. Mississippi state law requires anyone who intends to sue a government entity to file a written notice before a lawsuit is filed.

The letter accuses those involved of alleged “negligence, malfeasance and/or reckless conduct by (a deputy) in causing the death of (of the couple’s son) Isaiah Winkley on Dec. 10, 2022.”

K-9 deputy who fired the fatal shots removed from payroll

A Hancock County sheriff’s deputy, since identified by Sheriff Adam as Michael Chase Blackwell, shot and killed Winkley, 21, after responding to a Dec. 10 report of a burglary at 28030 Highway 603 in Kiln.

An autopsy report filed by state medical examiner Staci Turner shows that Winkley had been shot five times.

The family claims Winkley was not armed at the time of his death.

Blackwell, the department K-9 deputy, was “removed” from the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department’s payroll effective May 24, according to the minutes of the June 5 meeting of the board of supervisors.

Blackwell resigned, Adam said, “over some personnel issues within the office.”

Blackwell, who had also worked as a Gulfport police officer in the past, declined to comment when reached by the Sun Herald.

“The Sheriff’s department has refused to disclose, or even allow me to view, the dash-cam and body cam footage that depicts the young, unarmed Isaiah being shot 4 to 5 times without provocation,” Stevens said. “I invite them to revisit that decision today.”

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation independently investigates all police shootings in the state.

Sean Tindell, the commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety that oversees MBI, told the Sun Herald the results of that probe had been turned over to the state Attorney General’s office. The AG’s office will decide whether to present the evidence to a grand jury to determine if any criminal wrongdoing occurred.

MBI usually allows the family of someone shot by a law enforcement to review the footage prior to it being released to the public. If a criminal charge is filed, the video footage is not available to the public until the criminal case is prosecuted.

‘He is not a violent person’

“A young boy, scheduled to soon graduate from a private Christian college, who was bragging to friends about soon getting engaged, needlessly lost his life that day because his car got stuck in an unfamiliar town,” Stevens said.

The shooting has left his parents, siblings, girlfriend and others who knew and loved him questioning whether justice will be served..

“Isaiah sent dozens of Bible verses to friends and acquaintances around his Christian college the week after Thanksgiving as part of his lifetime of witnessing,” Stevens said. “His family is comforted by the fact that he is with his Lord now.”.

In the aftermath of his death, his mother talked about her family’s grief.

“We are absolutely heartbroken over our son’s death,” Cathy Winkley told the Sun Herald. “He is a good kid, a senior in Bible college, and we cannot understand what happened.”

“He is not a violent person and does not own a gun. He loves the Lord and cares for people,” she said. “He is a leader at school and loves others. We have heard nothing but good from all of our family and his friends since the incident. This makes no sense to us.”

Winkley’s 2009 Mercedes 230E had gone off the road on Highway 603 sometime before the shooting. It’s believed he was looking for a phone or tool to help get his car back up and running when he ended at the home in the Kiln.