Members of Cort Gatlin’s family broke down after hearing new details of the last hours of his life during a preliminary hearing Tuesday for four of the five people accused of taking part in his killing.
But their tears of sorrow became tears of relief as chants of, “Yes,” when a judge ordered the cases against the suspects to be bound over to a grand jury.
Anthony J. Dauden, 25, Bridget A. Dillon, 26, Exzavion Reed, 25 and Clarissa Hughes, no age available, appeared before Pike County Justice Court Judge Aubrey Rimes.
A fifth person, Jeremy “Jeezy” McElvin is still on the lam and wanted by the Pike County Sheriff’s Department for his alleged participation in Gatlin’s death.
Dauden, Dillon and Reed are charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder, and Hughes is charged with accessory after the fact and hindering prosecution.
On Tuesday, Aug. 30, Florence Gatlin reported her son missing to McComb police.
Family members said the last time they saw Gatlin was on Aug. 26, his 29th birthday.
On Sept. 1, Gatlin’s body was found in the Bogue Chitto River just south of Alford’s bridge in northern Pike County.
Pike County Sheriff’s Department Detective Sgt. Robbie Roberts testified that Gatlin’s death may have been provoked by allegations of child abuse against him.
Roberts said Dillon had taken her 3-year-old daughter to the doctor, and the girl tested positive for a sexually transmitted disease.
Roberts said the Mississippi Department of Human Services requested that Dillon and her boyfriend Anthony Dauden were tested and their results were negative. He said Gatlin voluntarily got tested and came back positive for the same sexually transmitted disease.
Roberts said McComb police still had possession of Gatlin’s test results, and there was no evidence that Gatlin gave the disease to the child.
Roberts said Dillon told him she, Dauden, Reed, and McElvin discussed what to do after learning about the diagnosis.
“They believed he had sexual relations with the child,” Roberts said. “They couldn’t believe that he tested positive, and they wanted to do something about it.”
He said that on Aug. 26, Dillon, Dauden, Reed and McElvin took Gatlin back to the home Dillon, Dauden and Gatlin shared at 809 Avenue E, McComb, and convinced Gatlin to take a ride with them.
He said Dillon, Dauden, Reed and McElvin took Gatlin to Alford’s Bridge. He said Dillon told investigators that Dauden and Reed attempted to get Gatlin to walk to the river bank, but he refused.
“She said they were trying to show him an alligator and he refused to get out of the car,” Roberts said.
Roberts said they then took Gatlin to Reed and Clarissa Hughes’ home at 2025 Summit-Holmesville Road.
He said Dillon told him she sat outside while Dauden, Reed, and McElvin took Gatlin into a storage room.
“She could hear him pleading for his life,” Roberts said.
He said Dauden, Reed and McElvin beat Gatlin until he was unconscious and then Dauden and Reed allegedly bound his hands, feet, mouth, nose and head with camouflage duct tape and placed a black plastic bag over his head.
Roberts said they wrapped Gatlin’s body in a blanket and placed him in the trunk of a black Chevrolet Caprice.
Roberts said Dillon, Dauden and McElvin took Gatlin back to Alford’s Bridge, where they got him out of the trunk, placed him over the bridge backward as Dauden allegedly shot him under the chin three times.
Criminal affidavits state that McElvin was the shooter, but Roberts said Dauden admitted to shooting Gatlin.
Roberts said Dauden told him he used a .45-caliber handgun with hollowpoint bullets. Roberts said the gun has never been recovered.
He said Gatlin “more than likely” died when he was allegedly suffocated.
Florence Gatlin, and other family members broke down and had to leave the courtroom after hearing Roberts describe the killing.
Roberts testified that Dillon spoke three times with McComb police Detective Sid Boyte.
“At first she denied all involvement but then she admitted she had a part in it,” Roberts said.
Dillon and Dauden were picked up on Sept. 1 in Walthall County, the same day Gatlin’s body was found in the river.
Roberts said Dillon led McComb investigators to Alford’s Bridge.
Roberts said after lawmen searched Hughes’ home and found a black plastic bag and camouflage tape, along with other items.
The question as to when Gatlin died came into question.
“(The lawyers) split hairs on whether he died when he was suffocated or when he was shot,” Pike County prosecutor David Brewer said.
He said the investigation is still ongoing and when McElvin is in custody, “we can fill in a lot of holes.”
He said the child in question was not Dauden’s, Reed’s or McElvin’s. “The child’s father is someone else.”
He said Reed would not talk when he interviewed him twice. Dauden wrote an affidavit recanting Reed or Hughes’s involvement with the case.
Rimes said there was more than enough evidence for probable cause and bound Dillon, Dauden and Reed over to the grand jury, keeping their bond at $500,000, cash only.
“Yes! That’s what they get. That’s what they deserve,” one of Gatlin’s family members said while leaving the courtroom.
