A white father and son in Mississippi have had their charges upgraded in a controversial case where they both allegedly attacked a Black FedEx driver while he was delivering packages earlier this year.
Gregory Charles Case and Brandon Case, father and son, respectively, each stand accused of one count of attempted murder over a January 2022 shooting incident – an incident that was initially viewed with skepticism by local law enforcement, the victim says.
As Law&Crime previously reported, 24-year-old D’Monterrio Gibson called 911 after being shot at and was allegedly grilled by a dispatcher who cut him off as he tried to explain what happened. The delivery man said the person on the other end of the line treated him with suspicion and appeared uninterested in the shots being fired.
Gregory Case was originally charged with conspiracy and held on $75,000 bond; Brandon Case was first charged with shooting at a motor vehicle and held on $150,000. Both Case men bonded out.
According to The Daily Leader, a Lincoln County grand jury recently indicted them both on the murder charges as well as one one count each of conspiracy and shooting at a motor vehicle.
Warrants were served and both men were arrested on the afternoon of Friday, Nov. 18, 2022, Lincoln County Sheriff Steve Rushing told the paper. Their bond was set at $500,000 apiece.
“My client is pleased that justice is being served in this case,” Gibson’s attorney Carlos Moore said. “This is a step in the right direction. We’re hoping for a conviction when the trial takes place by jury for a conviction in each. This man came within an inch of losing his life. While we are disappointed that it took so long to get to this point, Mr. Gibson is pleased that the indictments have been secured.”
Ultimately, both Gibson and his manager at FedEx filed criminal complaints. The Brookhaven Police Department launched an investigation along with the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and the FBI.
When the initial charges were filed, Moore criticized law enforcement for not charging the Cases with additional crimes.
“We believe this is attempted murder,” the attorney told Jackson, Mississippi-based NBC affiliate WLBT. “They had no justification under the law to do what they did. This man had done nothing wrong, and we believe it was racially motivated.”
According to Gibson, he first noticed a truck nearby started honking at him while he was delivering a package. At first, Gibson told the Mississippi Free Press, he thought the driver was upset and just “leaving to go to the store or something like that.”
But then the confrontation allegedly took a far more aggressive turn.
“I proceed to leave the driveway,” Gibson said. “As I’m leaving the driveway, he starts driving in the grass trying to cut me off. My instincts kick in, I swerve around him, and I start hitting the gas trying to get out of the neighborhood because I don’t know what his intentions are.”
Then, the driver said, he saw another man – a man with a gun.
“I drive down about two or three houses,” Gibson continued. “There’s another guy standing in the middle of the street pointing a gun at my windows and signaling to me to stop with his hands, as well as mouthing the word, ‘Stop.’ I shake my head no, I hide behind the steering wheel, and I swerve around him as well. As I swerve around him, he starts firing shots into my vehicle.”
The vehicle he was driving — as well as some packages — reportedly contained several bullet holes, according to an account and photos provided by Gibson to the Free Press. Gibson was reportedly driving a Hertz rental van with “Hertz markings on the side.” The vehicle was described in various news reports as being “not an official FedEx truck,” though it may have been a replacement for a standard company vehicle. Gibson was reportedly wearing his standard FedEx uniform while making deliveries.
The defendants have yet to be arraigned as of Monday, Nov. 21, 2022 – a trial date has not been set.
[Images via Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office]
