Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for March 26, 2008 YOU MIGHT BE A REDNECK

Not a "funny, ha, ha" story...indeed, a tragedy.

However, it's definitely another of those headlines that "catch the eye". That's why I finally opened and read it after ignoring it for a full day...on a VERY sloooooow news day.

And, as my "headline" above indicates, it could well be the "punch line" of a few morbid jokes.

Man used gun to make hole in wall

By RITA FLOREZ

A Deepwater woman died Saturday after being shot in the chest, according to the Henry County Sheriff’s Department.

Patsy D. Long, 34, was pronounced dead by Coroner Scott Largent just after 6 p.m.

Long was shot by her husband Ronald Long outside their home just after 6 p.m., while she was assisting him with the installation of a satellite television system, according to a written statement by the Sheriff’s Department.

Ronald Long, 39, of 956 SE 1121, Deepwater, told deputies he had made several attempts to punch a hole through the exterior wall of the house, according to the report. When that did not work, Long told deputies he used a .22-caliber handgun to shoot through the wall from inside the home. His second shot hit Patsy Long in the chest, the report stated.

Deputies are still investigating the death, and “Once we complete a diagram of the incident, we will be submitting everything to the prosecuting attorney and let him decide if he wants to press criminal charges,” said Major Robert Hills, of the Henry County Sheriff’s Department.

Hills said he could not speak for the prosecuting attorney, but normally in these types of cases the person would “get charged with a manslaughter of some sort.”

Henry County Coroner Scott Largent declined to release any information about Patsy Long’s death until the Sheriff’s Department finishes its investigation.