Walthall pair plead in 2006 killing
By John Surratt | Enterprise-Journal
Posted: 10/02/08 - 12:36:26 pm CDT
TYLERTOWN — A Walthall County man pleaded guilty today to the Dec. 26, 2006, shooting death of his stepfather, and his mother admitted to helping her son try to cover up the slaying.
Christopher James Bossier, 25, pleaded guilty on the second day of his murder trial in Walthall County Circuit to manslaughter and conspiracy to hinder prosecution in the death of Cecil Nevels.
He was sentenced to 20 years on the manslaughter charge and five years on the conspiracy charge, to be served consecutively.
Bossier’s mother and Cecil Nevels’ wife, Robin Nevels, 43, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to hinder prosecution.
She was sentenced to five years, suspended, placed on post-released supervision and fined $4,000.
Bossier had been charged with murder, while his mother faced charges of accessory after the fact to murder, hindering prosecution and conspiracy to hinder prosecution.
Dorothy Whitehead, one of Nevels’ sisters, said she wanted Robin Nevels and Bossier to know the pain and sorrow her family had suffered the past two years.
“I just wanted them to know that God’s justice system never fails,” she said.
“I’d like to apologize to the family. I can’t change anything. If I could it would have never happened,” Bossier said.
Assistant District Attorney Rodney Tidwell credited the sheriff’s department — and investigator Tony Rushing in particular — as well as Tim Leggett of the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations, which assisted in the case, and Tracy O’Quinn of the Walthall County Sheriff’s Department and other deputies.
“They did an excellent job of securing the crime scene,” Tidwell said, praising their efforts in working a case that had been difficult because it had been made to look like self-defense.
The pleas were reached after mutual discussions between the DA’s office and defense attorneys and after consulting with Nevels’ family, Tidwell said.
On Wednesday, the opening day of the trial, prosecutors played taped statements Bossier gave to lawmen, in which Bossier said that soon after he shot Nevels, he got Nevels’ 9mm pistol from his bedroom and put it in Nevels’ hand as Nevels lay on the kitchen floor.
Bossier’s statement, which was recorded on two cassette tapes, were part of the testimony by sheriff’s investigator Tony Rushing, who spent nearly seven hours on the stand Wednesday as he recalled the investigation that led to the arrests of Bossier and Nevels.
Cecil Nevels was shot and killed at the Johnny Magee Road residence in Tylertown that he and his wife shared with Bossier.Authorities said sheriff’s deputies responding to a call about a shooting at the residence arrived to find Cecil Nevels dead in the kitchen.
In his opening statements Wednesday, Assistant District Attorney Rodney Tidwell told the jury that the shooting was the result of an argument between the three, and that Bossier shot at Cecil Nevels five times with a 9mm handgun, hitting three times, and then fired another round at Nevels while he was on the kitchen floor.
He also said that Robin Nevels said in an Enterprise-Journal article and told other people after the shooting that her son acted in self-defense.
In his statement, Bossier initially told investigators that he came home with his mother, went to his room and then heard his mother and Nevels arguing.
He said he went into the living room and saw the argument, and that Nevels had a handgun and was waving it around.
When Cecil Nevels turned and pointed the gun at him, he said, “I pulled mine out and I shot him. He had his gun and I had mine, and it was either him or me.”
Bossier also said he thought that Nevels “was going to kill my mama.”
Bossier, however, changed his story when the investigators began the second tape of the interview.
When Rushing asked Bossier on the tape if he had anything to change, Bossier said that after shooting Cecil Nevels, he walked into couple’s bedroom, got Cecil Nevels’ gun off the bed stand, went to the kitchen, “and put the gun in his left hand” after his mother left the house to call authorities.
“I was scared to death (that) I’d go to prison,” he said.
Crime scene photos displayed in court Wednesday showed a gun laying a floor by Nevels’ left hand.
On the second tape, Bossier said he had heard arguing between Cecil and Robin Nevels.
He claimed Cecil Nevels had physically abused his mother in the past and that he was concerned for her safety. He also told investigators that Cecil Nevels did not have a gun in his hand as he argued with Robin Nevels.
Bossier recalled shooting at Cecil Nevels “four or five times,” before going into the kitchen and shooting him one more time.
“I didn’t mean for it to happen, but he had already hit the floor, so I shot him one more time,” he said.
Prosecutors also played the tape of Robin Nevels’ statement to investigators in which she said all three had been arguing.
She said Cecil Nevels had been upset that there was not a fire in the fireplace of the house, adding that he was also angry with Bossier, who had not done some chores.
Robin Nevels said she did not see a gun in her husband’s hand until she returned to the house from calling authorities.
She said once Bossier shot Cecil Nevels, she went to her son, took the gun away from him and put it on a counter separating the kitchen from the living room, adding, “I was afraid he was going to kill himself.”
In his statement to investigators, Bossier said his mother never touched his gun.
“I didn’t know if Cecil had a gun,” Robin Nevels said. “I never knew Chris had one. All I know is bullets started flying.”
She said she was standing by Nevels and she saw him go down, saying a second time that she didn’t know if her husband had a gun.
“I know this sounds stupid, but I wasn’t paying attention,” she told investigators. “I was never so scared in my life.”
Robin Nevels said her husband constantly pushed her son, adding that they were always threatening each other.
“My son is a good person,” she told investigators.
She also said that Nevels had a temper but was not violent.but he had already hit the floor, so I shot him one more time,” he said.
The state also played the tape of Robin Nevels’ statement to investigators in which she said all three had been arguing. She said Cecil Nevels had been upset that there was not a fire in the fireplace of the house, adding that he was also angry with Bossier, who had not done some chores.
Robin Nevels said she did not see a gun in her husband’s hand until she returned to the house from calling authorities.
She said once Bossier shot Cecil Nevels, she went to her son, took the gun away from his and put it on a counter separating the kitchen from the living room, adding, “I was afraid he was going to kill himself.”
In his statement to investigators, Bossier said his mother never touched his gun.
“I didn’t know if Cecil had a gun,” Robin Nevels said. “I never knew Chris had one. All I know is bullets started flying.”
She said she was standing by Nevels and she saw him go down, saying a second time that she didn’t know if her husband had a gun.
“I know this sounds stupid, but I wasn’t paying attention,” she told investigators. “I was never so scared in my life.”
Robin Nevels said her husband constantly pushed her son, adding that they were always threatening each other.
“My son is a good person,” she told investigators.
She also said that Nevels had a temper, but was not violent.
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Faith wrote on Oct 3, 2008 3:18 PM:
It's a shame that he is taking the rap for it all!
People should know that when a person drinks and has a blackout, things cannot be remembered. Chris can only remember what his mom told him that happened.
I honestly believe that the judicial system needs to take a harder look at all of the evidence and get the TRUE Story!
I have followed this story from the beginning. "