The man charged with the July 2013 murder of Harry “Ace” Chapman pleaded guilty to the crime on Monday and will serve a 30-year prison sentence.
Ricky Renard Howard Jr., 668 W. Railroad Ave., Apt. B, Gloster, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and two counts of simple assault on a law enforcement officer in connection with the shooting death of Chapman and a scuffle with police during his arrest.
Howard entered his guilty plea in Pike County Circuit Court before Judge David Strong, who sentenced him to 40 years, 10 suspended, District Attorney Dee Bates said.
Howard shot and killed Chapman,46, on July 11, 2013, in what authorities described as a drug deal gone bad.
McComb police officers responded about 4:32 a.m. to a reported shooting at Chapman’s residence at 821 25th St., where they found the 46-year-old dead of a single gunshot wound to the lower back.
Bates said Howard and two other men, Desmond Tramone Taplin, 21, of Centreville, and Michael George Veals, 33, of Woodville, allegedly purchased synthetic marijuana from Chapman, then conspired to rob him, though the robbery was never carried out.
Bates said the effects of the drugs caused Howard to become paranoid.
“(Chapman) had them in the house with the door locked,” Bates said. “(Howard) actually tried shooting the lock off the door. When the police came to arrest him he was still freaking out.”
Howard tried fleeing the scene by jumping through a glass window, then engaged in a brief scuffle with officers Rodney Nordstrom and Kevin Brooks, Bates said.
Howard also was indicted on charges of armed robbery and conspiracy to commit armed robbery, but those charges were dismissed.
The other two defendants, Taplin and Veals, were initially indicted on accessory after the fact to murder, but those charges were dropped in exchange for their cooperation with prosecutors. They each also pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit armed robbery. They have not yet been sentenced.
