Wanted in Alabama, MS Coast deputy’s killer had string of high-speed pursuits & convictions
Ricky Labaron Powell didn’t want to go back to prison.
That is what the 42-year-old Mississippi man was likely facing once George County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeremy Malone pulled over his silver SUV for a tag violation in the early evening of Jan. 5.
The convicted felon had a firearm and an active warrant for his arrest out of Mobile County, Alabama, for felony possession of marijuana.
As a result, Powell knew he’d likely end up in handcuffs and would soon be on his way back to jail and eventually prison as a habitual offender with a history of arrests and convictions dating back to the age of 18.
When Malone initiated the stop, Powell pulled into the parking lot of a Dollar General.
It was there, in the parking lot of the Dollar General on Mississippi 98 near Brushy Creek Road, that authorities believe Powell jumped out of his vehicle and started firing at Malone as he approached the man’s SUV. Malone died at the scene of multiple gunshot wounds to the face.
“Jeremy didn’t have a chance,” former George County Sheriff Keith Havard said of the killing of the 25-year career law enforcement officer who, in recent years had been working part-time as a deputy and full-time as a security supervisor at Bolinger’s Shipyard in Pascagoula.
Powell took off after the shooting, but a witness and local contractor, Billy Mitchell, saw what happened and decided to follow Powell so he could relay the information to authorities to make an arrest.
The contractor knew it would take some time for another deputy in the rural area.
Soon, area law enforcement closed in behind Powell and followed him out of George County into Perry County, where the chase ended and the suspect died of a gunshot wound.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is independently investigating the shooting.
Sean Tindell, commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, provided added information about the killing, but said it remains under investigation. The investigators, he said, are still working to piece together the events that occurred before, during and after the killing of the devoted husband, father and friend.
At the time of the shooting, authorities confirmed Malone was not equipped with body camera to record the incident, but there were eyewitnesses at the store, and possible dash cam footage.
Malone is the second George County officer to die in the line of duty during a traffic stop.
Former Sheriff Garry Welford died on July 10, 2010, when he was struck and killed by a driver during a vehicle pursuit along Bexley Road South in George County. The driver and passenger of the car that killed Welford are serving life sentences with no chance of parole.
A known drug user and violent offender
Law enforcement officers, primarily narcotics agents with the South Mississippi Metro Enforcement Team, knew who Powell was from his years of run-ins with authorities.
Powell had lived in Moss Point and surrounding areas for a significant portion of his life, and prior to that, he had lived in Alabama. At the time of his death, he was living in Purvis.
His problems with law enforcement began by the time he was 18 and arrested in Mobile.
As the years progressed, Powell found himself in and out of jail beginning as early as 1999 when he was arrested on various counts of forgery.
He spent a couple of years in prison for those offenses after he violated the conditions of his original sentences that had not included time in prison.
In the years that followed, Powell was in and out of jail for committing other crimes that included attempts by him to avoid arrests by leading authorities on vehicle pursuits.
In one of the last pursuits before his death, Powell led Moss Point Police Officer Lancen Shipman on a chase through the city.
Shipman said he decided to stop Powell’s car after he saw it leaving “an area known for high crime and drug activity” in January 2009, according to reports at the time.
Powell reportedly reached speeds of 100 mph during the chase, until Powell pulled into a parking lot behind the Jackson County Civic Action building on Jefferson Street in Moss Point.
Powell, the officer said, jumped out of his Nissan Sentra and started running. Powell was a big man, about 5-foot-9 and 300 pounds, running toward his then home.
Shipman said he was determined to catch Powell at that time because just a few months earlier, Powell got away when he led him on another pursuit in the city.
Once Powell started running, Shipman got out of his patrol car and ran after him. Powell stopped at one point, Shipman said, and the two ended up in a struggle.
At one point, Shipman said, Powell managed to rip his gun from his holster during a struggle with him.
Shipman said he thought he was going to die, then Powell turned and started running again.
Authorities later took custody of Powell.
5 convictions and a stint in prison
By the summer of 2004, Powell was in Jackson County Circuit Court to plead guilty to felony charges of auto burglary and forgery.
It was July 14, 2004, when Powell, then 24, went before Judge Kathy King Jackson and pleaded guilty to the four felony charges.
For his crimes, the judge sentenced Powell to a total of 15 years year in prison, but suspended the prison sentence and ordered Powell to serve the time under the supervision of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
He also had to go to a state restitution center and pay $987 in restitution. In addition, he was ordered to pay fines totaling $2,000.
After he completed his sentence, Powell soon got in trouble again and was facing possible prison time for the pursuit and assault involving Shipman.
Added to that were new federal charges against Powell for receiving stolen property, a stolen gun in this case, and one count each of felon in possession of a firearm and unlawful receipt of an unregistered firearm.
In June 2008, court records show, Powell pleaded guilty to a federal charge of receiving stolen property. The judge later sentenced him to 10 years in prison.
On Oct. 5, 2009, Powell returned to Jackson County Circuit Court and pleaded guilty to felony assault on the officer, felony evading and robbery.
Judge Dale Harkey sentenced Powell to 23 years in prison on all counts to run concurrent to his federal prison sentence for the weapons charge.
Between the time he was sentenced in the state and federal cases, Powell had time out of jail on bond.
It was during that time, in January 2006, when Powell ran into more trouble with law enforcement, resulting his arrest on charges of third-degree assault, felony possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.
When Powell was stopped by the George County deputy last week, the Mobile County Sheriff’s Department said there was still an active warrant for his arrest on a felony offense.
Authorities in Alabama had hoped to pursue charges against Powell as a habitual offender there because of his history of criminal acts over the years.
Before that could happen, Powell shot and killed the George County deputy.
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