A manslaughter case stemming from a fatal May 2016 bar fight will not proceed after a Pike County grand jury declined to hand down an indictment earlier this month.
Russell Creason, 35, of Forest, was charged after he got into a fight with Shaun Wallace, 25, of Bogue Chitto, at the Upper Deck Sportsbar at 515 S. Railroad Blvd., McComb, in the early morning hours of May 31.
Detectives said at the time that a fight broke out between Creason and Wallace but bar employees and bystanders broke it up.
Fighting erupted again, however, and Wallace received repeated blows to the head. He was pronounced dead of blunt force trauma at the scene.
Creason surrendered to McComb police the next day.
District Attorney Dee Bates said the grand jury took up Creason’s case March 7-9.
Bates said he doesn’t know why the grand jury chose not to indict Creason.
“We present all the facts and the grand jury hears from all the subpoenaed witnesses, those that show up. Then they deliberate,” he said.
Bates said investigators can still present a new case to a different grand jury.
“If they uncover new information that can help the case, then we can present the case again to grand jury,” Bates said. “There’s no double jeopardy in this case.”
