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INCIDENT / ARREST REPORT
Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Department
711 Jackson Avenue
Oxford, MS 38655

_X_ INCIDENT
___ Juvenile
___ Senior Citizen
___ Gang

___ ARREST
___ Child Abuse
___ Domestic
___ Involved Alcohol
CASE NUMBER:
004378-27H-2023
Date Reported:
08/27/2023
Time Reported:
9:22 AM
OFFENSE:
TBD
STATUTE:
___Committed
___ Attempted
OFFENSE:
STATUTE:
___Committed
___Attempted
OFFENSE:
STATUTE:
___Committed
___Attempted
Location of Offense(Exact address, include Room/ Apt. No.)
588 Hathorn Road, Apt. 232
Oxford, MS 38655
Date of Offense:
TBD
Time of Offense:
TBD
Location of Arrest (Exact address, include Room/Apt. No.)
N/A
Date of Arrest:
N/A
Time of Arrest:
N/A
Reporting Officer:
Det. Sam Murphy
Unit Number:
633
Assisting Officer:
Det. Ted Armstrong
Unit Number:
615

 

Persons

PERSON 1
Type:
Victim
Category:
Adult
Foul Play Suspected
Yes
Name:
Kristal Bentley Waterson
Alias/Street Name/ Nickname
Kristi
Vic/Offender Relationship
Unknown
Race
White
Height
5' 7"
Weight
125
Hair
Blonde
Eyes
Brown
Sex
 F
Hat
None
Jacket/Coat
None
Shirt
White
Pants
Navy blue
Skirt/Dress
None
Age
26
DOB
3/23/1997
Soc. Security #
XXX-XX-XXXX
Scars/Marks/Tattoos
None visible
Injury Extent
Fatal
Injury Description
Apparent ligature strangulation
Address
588 Hathorn Road, Apt. 232, Oxford, MS
Res Phone 662-801-XXXX
Bus Phone 662-915-XXXX
Occupation
Instructor
Employer/School
University of Mississippi
Employer Address
C-115 Bondurant Hall
University, MS

 

PERSON 2
Type:
Witness
Category:
Adult
Foul Play Suspected
N/A
Name:
Michelle Prescott
Alias/Street Name/ Nickname
None
Vic/Offender Relationship
victim's cousin & roommate
Race
White
Height
5' 7"
Weight
135
Hair
Blonde
Eyes
Green
Sex
 F
Hat
None
Jacket/Coat
None
Shirt
White
Pants
Blue denim
Skirt/Dress
None
Age
21
DOB
4/6/2002
Soc. Security #
XXX-XX-XXXX
Scars/Marks/Tattoos
None visible
Injury Extent
None visible
Injury Description
N/A
Address
588 Hathorn Road, Apt. 232
Oxford, MS
Res Phone 662-832-XXXX
Bus Phone 662-236-XXXX
Occupation
Admin. Asst.
Employer/School
The Harte Agency
Employer Address
1923 University Avenue
Oxford, MS

 

Reporting Officer's narrative

REPORTING OFFICER'S NARRATIVE(Brief narrative of the facts surrounding the offense and the arrest.)

At 9:15 a.m., Dispatch received a 911 call reporting the discovery of a body in an apartment on Hathorn Road. The caller identified herself as Michelle Prescott, the deceased's cousin and roommate.

Unit #304 (Deputy F. Willits) was dispatched to the scene and arrived at 9:22 a.m. At 9:26 a.m., Deputy Willits notified Dispatch that the presence of a body was confirmed and requested backup and medical assistance. Detectives Armstrong and Murphy were assigned and proceeded directly to the scene. Coroner's Inspector Luwinda Johnson and a CSU team were notified to respond to the scene.

Reporting Investigators (R/Is) arrived at the scene at 10:08 a.m. and found Deputy Willits had secured the area and detained an adult female identified as Michelle Prescott (Person 2). Environmental conditions at the scene upon arrival are as follows: Weather: Light rain; Ambient Exterior Temperature: 73º F / 23º C; Relative Exterior Humidity: 100%; Ambient interior temperature approximately 72°F/22°C, Relative Humidity approximately 47%.

Upon R/Is' arrival, Deputy Willits made the following verbal report, which is stated in summary and not verbatim.

Deputy Willits said Michelle Prescott met him at the entrance to the apartment and escorted him to the rear bedroom of the residence where Deputy Willits observed the body of an apparently deceased adult female hanging by the neck from a strap in a closet in the attached bathroom. Ms. Prescott identified the female as her cousin, Kristal Waterson (Person 1).

Upon verification of the presence of the body, Deputy Willits asked Ms. Prescott to return to the living room area of the residence. Deputy Willits then secured the area, finding no other persons in the residence.

At 9:33 a.m., YCFD EMTs R. Peterson and J. Bilkey arrived and after confirming the victim was deceased, withdrew from the crime scene.

Deputy Willits reported that, to the best of his knowledge, the following persons have entered the crime scene area and must be documented by CSU personnel: Michelle Prescott, EMT Peterson, EMT Bilkey, and himself.

After receiving Deputy Willits's verbal report, R/Is instructed him to have Michelle Prescott transported to the sheriff's office for a formal interview.


Click to enlarge

R/Is then conducted a preliminary inspection of the scene, noting no signs of forced entry. R/Is proceeded through the living and dining area, the rear bedroom, and its attached bathroom to a walk-in closet located in the rear bathroom.

R/Is observed a lifeless human body, a female apparently in her early twenties, hanging from a crossbar in the closet. The body was facing the door of the closet with the feet touching the floor and the knees slightly bent. Visual inspection indicated the victim was wearing a white mock turtleneck sleeveless shirt and navy blue sweatpants. The victim had no shoes or socks on her feet.

The body hung from a light tan, cotton-poly blend belt with green stripes. The belt was cinched around the deceased's neck using the buckle end and tied to the crossbar using a half-hitch knot at the opposite end. The length of the belt between the crossbar and the deceased's neck was eight (8) inches. The crossbar is sixty-four (64) inches above the floor of the closet. The victim is sixty-seven (67) inches tall.

At 10:31 a.m., Coroner's Inspector Johnson arrived at the scene and joined R/Is at the body's location.

Inspector Johnson pronounced the victim deceased at 10:37 a.m. by visual observation that the victim was not breathing and by tactile observation that the victim did not have a palpable carotid pulse.

Inspector Johnson noted the presence of an upward-angled ligature mark on the upper neck of the victim, consistent with the position of the body and the belt around the neck when the victim was found. Visual observation revealed no immediate indications of any other injuries.

Inspector Johnson said liver temperature at the scene was 86.2°F/30.1°C and noted that the deceased's skin was waxy and cool to the touch and that the deceased's eyes were open and the corneas cloudy. Rigor mortis was well-established throughout the body. Inspector Johnson speculated the victim had been dead approximately 12 to 14 hours prior to examination, subject to revision pending a formal autopsy, and indicated that the apparent cause of death was asphyxiation due to ligature strangulation. Inspector Johnson indicated that further details would be available in the official autopsy report.

After Inspector Johnson completed her initial inspection of the body, she stayed with the CSU team to ensure the integrity of the body while the team took photographs of the scene and performed preliminary analyses until the body could be removed from the scene without affecting other evidence.

CSU arrived at the scene at 10:57 a.m. R/Is instructed CSU to collect the phone and process the scene according to standard procedure.

The body of the deceased was removed from the scene at 12:45 p.m. and remanded into the custody of Coroner's Inspector Luwinda Johnson for transport to the coroner's office for autopsy. A preliminary autopsy report is expected within seven days of this report, with detailed findings to follow at a later date.

R/Is left the scene at 12:58 p.m. to interview the witness at the sheriff's office.

Before leaving, R/Is instructed CSU to seal the scene upon completion or end-of-shift suspension of processing. CSU to notify R/Is of their progress by the end of this date. As of this filing, CSU is still actively processing the scene.

Evidence was remanded into the custody of Forensics Officer T. R. Douglas for transport to the state crime lab for routine analysis. CSU is expected to submit an inventory of items taken into evidence within seven days of this report, with detailed report(s) of their findings to follow at a later date.

 

  DEFENDANT'S VERSION/REMARKS(What did the defendant say?)

 N/A

 

 REPORTING OFFICER  Sam Murphy  DATE REPORTED  08/27/2023
 REPORTING OFFICER  //Sam Murphy
 Signature
 633
 Unit Number
 08/27/2023
 Date
 ASSISTING OFFICER  //Ted Armstrong
 Signature
 615
 Unit Number
 08/27/2023
 Date

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