It may be a while before cases against two men accused of helping Dr. Arnold Smith in a failed scheme to kill Greenwood attorney Lee Abraham go to trial.
Derrick Lacy and Cordarious Robinson were both charged in connection with the April 28, 2012, shootout at Abraham’s law office on Market Street. Keaira Byrd, another alleged hitman, was shot and killed by agents of the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office, and Lacy was severely injured.
Assistant District Attorney Timothy Jones said his office still needs to meet with defense attorneys for Lacy and Robinson to schedule a trial date.
Lacy is charged with capital murder for Byrd’s death and conspiracy to commit murder for the alleged plot against Abraham.
Robinson is charged with conspiracy to commit murder. He reportedly told investigators he was paid $15,000 by Smith to help locate and hire hitmen.
Robinson was also charged with possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. He, Lacy and Byrd all had felony convictions prior to the night of the shootout.
Smith, a Greenwood oncologist who had a longstanding grudge against Abraham, was indicted on charges of capital murder and conspiracy to commit murder but was found mentally unfit to stand trial on criminal charges.
He was committed to the state mental hospital at Whitfield.
Lacy told authorities that he hadn’t been hired to kill Abraham, was unarmed the night of the shooting and had been coerced by Byrd into going to the law office. He was initially placed under house arrest while recovering from his injuries but has been in custody since July 2012.
Criminal charges have continued to dog Lacy behind bars.
He is charged with attempted first-degree murder for the alleged stabbing of fellow inmate Alexander Stevenson with a sharpened metal “shank” in May 2015. That case is first scheduled to go before a judge Feb. 8.
In October 2015, Lacy pleaded guilty to felony charges for simple assault against a law enforcement officer, for which he received a one-year prison sentence followed by two years’ supervised probation. He allegedly hit a prison guard with a fluorescent light bulb, causing minor injuries to the guard’s head.
Lacy was previously convicted for possession of contraband.
Since being released on $120,000 bond, Robinson has been arrested for several misdemeanor offenses, including three instances of bond jumping in 2013.
In July 2014, domestic-violence assault charges against Robinson were dismissed when the affiant could not be found. Separate assault charges against him were dismissed the next month for similar reasons.
Most recently, Robinson was released on bond following an arrest for driving with a suspended license.
•Contact Nick Rogers at 581-7235 or nrogers@gwcommonwealth.com.
