A Picayune man was charged with capital murder on Monday in the shooting death of University of Mississippi sprinter Rodney Lydale Lockhart, said Oxford Police Chief Mike Martin.
Christian C. Bonner, 20, who also gave police an Oxford address, was being held without bond at the Lafayette County Detention Center, Martin said.
Lockhart was a former student and athlete at J.Z. George High School in North Carrollton.
Heath Dudley, J.Z. George track coach, said Bonner's arrest should help the close-knit community “and bring closure to the case.”
Lafayette County District Attorney Ben Creekmore said Monday he did not know if Bonner had hired an attorney.
Bonner was arrested at 12:37 p.m. Friday after a traffic stop in Oxford, said Martin.
“We had information which led us to him. We picked him up. That's all I can go into right now because the case is still active,” the police chief said.
Martin declined to give to a motive in the shooting case, but he said Bonner knew the victim. Martin would not say if more arrests were expected. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation also is working on the case.
Bonner was not a student at the University of Mississippi, said Ole Miss spokesman Jeffrey Alford.
In Mississippi, a person can be charged with capital murder if authorities believe another felony was committed along with a killing. Martin has not said what the other felony might have been committed in this case.
Dudley, who came to J.Z. George a year after Lockhart graduated, said Lockhart inspired youngsters there.
“He was related to some of them. They looked up to him,” Dudley said.
The coach said Lockhart after graduation called the school's track members constantly and gave them encouragement.
“They wanted to impress him. They wanted him to be proud of them,” Dudley said.
Lockhart, 20, a junior psychology major and member of the gold medal-winning U.S. 1,600-meter relay team in the 2006 World Junior Championships in Beijing, was found shot to death Sept. 29 at his apartment near the Ole Miss campus.
Funeral services for the Vaiden native were held Saturday in the gym of J.Z. George.
Lockhart finished ninth in the 400 meters and was a member of the 1,600-meter relay team that finished eighth at the 2006 SEC Outdoor Championships.
At the 2006 SEC Indoor Championships, he finished eighth in the 400 meters and was part of a 1,600-meter relay team that finished fifth.
A memorial service was held for Lockhart on the campus, and the track team is conducting a fundraiser to establish a scholarship in his memory.
