A Canton man and his 1-year-old daughter are both dead in an apparent murder-suicide following a kidnapping this morning in Cruger.
Lavonta Lloyd of Canton took the child from the baby’s grandmother’s home early today, then led Holmes, Leflore and Sunflower County sheriff’s deputies on a chase that ended just east of Moorhead, in a ditch off U.S. 82.
According to Leflore County Sheriff Ricky Banks, Lavonte Lloyd shot the baby first, then himself.
Banks said his office received a call from Holmes County at around 7 a.m.
“They told us what they were after, a white truck with a water tank on the back, and said the driver of the vehicle had refused to stop, had kidnapped a baby and was threatening to kill the baby and then kill himself,” Banks said.
The truck led Leflore County deputies through the southern part of the county into Itta Bena via Mississippi 7, and exited onto U.S. 82 heading toward Moorhead.
Law enforcement had laid spikes on the eastbound lanes of U.S. 82 in hopes of turning the truck around at Moorhead and busting out its tires.
But just before the truck got to the red light at Moorhead, “the pickup went across the eastbound lane and went into a deep ditch so you couldn’t see the top of the truck anymore,” Banks said.
Banks said he made a decision to ease up to the truck to assess the scene, and deputies busted out the driver-side window.
“The baby was on top of him and had been shot,” Banks said. Lloyd had also apparently shot himself.
Banks said he didn’t know at what point Lloyd killed the baby and said unsubstantiated rumors were going around saying he shot the child and put it on Facebook before turning the gun on himself.
Holmes County Sheriff Willie March said his officers were told that shots were fired in Cruger before Lloyd drove away. March said Holmes County officers did not arrive until Lloyd had already left the scene.
Banks characterized the pursuit of the truck across Leflore County as a chase, but said neither the truck nor sheriff’s vehicles were traveling at high speeds.
Lloyd had a record of domestic violence in Hinds County, according to Banks. March confirmed that his department had issued a restraining order against Lloyd on July 2, but Lloyd had not been served and a court date had not been set.
March said his department had been called earlier in the week, and an officer chased Lloyd down the railroad tracks in Cruger but Lloyd escaped into a corn field and was not caught.
March said the baby’s mother told him a restraining order was out on him in another Mississippi county. That information has not been confirmed.
Banks said law enforcement vehicles from three counties converged on U.S. 82 at the spot where the truck entered the ditch. March said the mother and grandmother of the child had also arrived at the scene.
“I informed them that the baby had been shot,” March said.
The Sunflower County coroner’s assistant at noon today said the coroner would not be releasing any information to the media until the investigation into both deaths was completed.
• Contact Kathryn Eastburn at 581-7235 or keastburn@gwcommonwealth.com.
The original version of this article misspelled the first name of Lavonta Lloyd and had an incorrect city of residence for him.
