Ricky Ball killed by former CPD officer canyon boykin in a police involved shooting in columbus, ms
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Ricky Ball left home on October 16, 2015 to grab something to eat for his girlfriend and himself not knowing he would never make it home again. Ricky also wanted to go to one of his former high school's games that Friday night with his cousins, but his cousins already had a carload planning to go to the game that night. Certainly Ricky and his cousins were not too bothered by this because they were sure there would be another opportunity to go to another game together the following week. Ricky also had a morning ritual to pickup his daughter Makayla, affectionately called "Bug" which he and his daughter were used to on a daily basis; but the next morning after Ricky was killed in a police involved shooting, Bug's mornings would never be the same.
Ricky, his daughter Bug and his cousins did not know October 16th would be their last opportunity to see their loved one. They WERE NOT expecting Ricky Ball to be killed on the night of October 16, 2015 by rogue members of the Columbus, Mississippi Police Department's special operations group (SOG). The senseless unlawful killing of Ricky Ball ensured that he, his daughter and his family would never see each other again.
The main officers involved are Canyon Boykin (the indicted shooter), Yolanda Young and Johnny "Max" Branch. According to multiple complaints, the SOG was known for harassment, aggressiveness and unlawful tactics used to exploit and violate the rights of citizens in the areas they frequently kept under surveillance. That fatal night of Ricky Ball's death, the SOG was not on patrol duty but were instead lurking on the north side of Columbus when they were contacted by a former CPD drug officer Joseph Strevel to stop the car in which Ricky was a passenger. The SOG officers knew exactly who Ricky Ball was when they stopped the vehicle and when Canyon Boykin shot and killed Ricky as he attempted to get away; because Boykin, Branch and Strevel had unsuccessfully attempted to stop Ricky and a relative of Boykin without probable cause less than two months earlier . Yet, the SOG member Canyon Boykin immediately recorded that shots were fired at an unknown person. Yes, the first piece of recorded evidence in this case was a lie.
Ricky Ball was killed for simply getting AWAY from SOG member Canyon Boykin one time too many. About two months before Canyon Boykin unlawfully killed Ricky Ball, Boykin and his partner Max Branch, without probable cause, attempted to stop Ricky when Boykin saw one of his relatives riding in the car with Ricky. Bodycam footage reveals that the only reason Boykin was interested in stopping them was because he saw his relative in the car with Ricky Ball. Boykin's relative was believed to be a friend of Ricky's girlfriend at the time.
The week before Ricky Ball was killed Ricky told one of his first cousins that Canyon Boykin pointed him out to another officer in front of a group of witnesses saying, "that m-f right there thinks he's above the law, but I'm gonna get him". The next week Canyon Boykin "got him" indeed.
Eyewitnesses, community members and news reports have stated these and more facts about the deadly night Ricky Ball was killed:
(A) According to news reports, a CPD narcotics agent, Joseph Strevel (who moved to the Sheriff's department in the same county), told Canyon Boykin and his SOG gang to stop the car that Ricky Ball was a passenger in because Ricky was targeted by Strevel based on an informant's tip to Strevel.
(B) This fact and the attempted stop of Ricky and Boykin's relative two months before show that Boykin, Strevel and the SOG knew exactly who Ricky was BEFORE the stop was made. Since there was an established history between Boykin, Branch, Strevel and Ricky from previous times Boykin engaged Ricky, all of them already knew Ricky was going to run. We believe Boykin, Strevel and the SOG were determined not to let Ricky get away from them this time.
This is the primary reason why we believe they all DECIDED not to turn on their body cameras until after Ricky Ball was shot multiple times even though they had been turning on their body camera earlier that same night during interactions with citizens. This information about the call from Strevel to the SOG also brings to light that even though the Official CPD Press Release by former Chief Tony Carleton states otherwise; a faulty tag-light was NOT the true reason Boykin and the SOG stopped the car in which Ricky was a passenger. In sworn testimony eyewitnesses also saw officers from the county or city picking up shell casings and relocating the spent casings to create a false crime scene. From the beginning there was a conspiracy to cover-up Ricky Ball's murder by multiple civil servants.
(C) When Canyon Boykin and his SOG gang pulled over the car driven by Shannon Brewer that Ricky was a passenger in, Ricky jumped out and was running AWAY before Boykin and his gang could even get out of their unmarked car.
(D) Boykin jumped out of his car and fired at least two shots at Ricky WITHOUT ANY interaction between him and Ricky whatsoever according to eyewitness testimony that the State Attorney General has in her possession. By the time Boykin began shooting, Ricky was yards away from him. By this time, Ricky was too far away from Boykin to be tased and too far away to be physically engaged in a scuffle. This distance between Boykin and Ricky will prove that it was impossible for Ricky to have been knocked down by a shot from Boykin's taser, then get up and scuffle with officers within the 10 SECONDS reported by authorities. Also, the fact is in court documents that Canyon Boykin's Taser was not fired until 10:49 PM that night. The traffic stop was called in around 10:08 PM, 41 minutes before Boykin's Taser was fired according to the taser's log. So we can see clearly that Boykin is lying in his civil lawsuit about what happened that night.
(E) While chasing Ricky, we believe Boykin may have fallen into a ditch that Ricky jumped over, and rose up in the ditch shooting several more shots at Ricky. People saw an officer near the ditch shooting that night. Ricky is running away from Boykin this whole time and at some point Ricky is hit from behind by some of Boykin's bullets.
(F) As Ricky is running through his neighborhood screaming "y'all help me, they gonna kill me," neighbors began coming outside their homes to see what all the shooting and yelling was about. One of Boykin's bullets shattered one neighbor's screen door window and lodged into her metal back door. Ricky eventually tried to hide, but Boykin and his gang found Ricky. Community members went to the area where the ambulance picked up Ricky and noticed how the leaves were disturbed as if someone was dragged at least 50ft.
(G) According to multiple community members who attended a people-packed city council meeting, officers on the scene were intimidating the people watching this incident by pointing guns at the witnesses and trying to make all witnesses leave the area completely. Community members at the Community meeting at Hunt High museum were saying Officers from the Columbus Police Department and the Lowndes County Sheriff's Office were seen huddled around Ricky's body with one Officer reaching towards Ricky's body and anything that was done to Ricky was done after Ricky was found and dragged. Canyon Boykin's Taser trigger log supports this view as well. Community members at the community meeting at Hunt High also said they saw the gun being dropped beside Ricky Ball while Ricky was laying there bleeding to death.
(H) The paramedics involved took entirely too long to move from their staging area, up the street from where Ricky was laying, to the actual place where Ricky laid bleeding to death. We believe the paramedics were purposefully held up by the officers on the scene to allow Ricky to bleed to death in a conspiracy to end Ricky's life. Police officers were seen entering and exiting the ambulance repeatedly before the paramedics headed to the hospital with Ricky's body. The paramedics did not leave the scene to take Ricky to the hospital with any sirens on or with any interior lights on or any police escorts. Even though multiple witnesses on the scene said they believe Ricky Ball was still alive when EMTs arrived at the staging area, Ricky was loaded into the back of the ambulance with no oxygen mask on his face nor were there any other life-saving efforts being performed on Ricky. There was a clear lack of urgency in transporting Ricky Ball to the hospital for treatment, a penetrating trauma victim with multiple gun shot wounds!... The paramedics simply eased off the shooting scene in no hurry at all as if they were carrying a dead body according to witnesses. There are multiple individuals ultimately responsible for Ricky Ball's death. We expect all of them to be held accountable.
In initial news articles former Police Chief Tony Carleton stated that Canyon Boykin said that Ricky pointed a gun at Boykin. It can not be overstated that this is the only allegation that Canyon Boykin could have used in order for him not to be arrested that same night for murder. Although this gun-pointing allegation has been repeated in news reports, former police chief Tony Carleton did not make this allegation part of his official CPD press release published almost two weeks after Ricky Ball was killed...
The fact that Boykin's partner, Johnny Branch, did not attempt to shoot Ricky Ball nor did Branch do anything else that suggests he thought Boykin's life was in danger shows any reasonable person that Ricky Ball did NOT point a gun at Boykin and there is no Real Evidence of Boykin's life ever being in danger from Ricky Ball. Officers claim that a gun was somehow "found" near where Ricky collapsed...as if a dying man is going to run through a neighborhood with a gun in his hand while being shot repeatedly and screaming for help... Community members at the Hunt High community meeting said an officer was seen dropping a gun on the crime scene as others officers were huddled around Ricky's body. Ironically, this same gun belongs to, Garrett Mittan, the first officer on the scene other than the SOG the night Ricky Ball was killed who was scene riding up 14th Avenue North with his lights off as he approached the crime scene. This same officer allegedly reported this gun stolen during one of two alleged burglaries of his home. However, the burglaries were not reported by the CPD until 12 days AFTER Ricky Ball was murdered, according to CPD police reports.
In the beginning of the investigation into Ricky's murder, the Chief of Police, Tony Carleton, resigned and the Assistant Chief, Tony McCoy, abruptly decided to retire. Carleton took a pay cut to come from the Tupelo, MS police department as chief to the Columbus Police department becoming chief in June 2014 and at some point brought in Assistant Chief McCoy from Tupelo also. Less than 18 months after Carleton became chief of police in Columbus, both he and his assistant chief decided to quit. Canyon Boykin attempted to resign but his resignation was rejected by the the city council. The Columbus City Council decided to fire Canyon Boykin instead. Only because the Columbus City government was slow to act they could not technically fire Boykin after he quit so a settlement was reached out of court. Joseph Strevel, the CPD drug officer who told Boykin to stop the car in which Ricky Ball was a passenger, has also resigned from the Columbus Police Department. Strevel is now reportedly working for the local Sheriff's Department in Lowndes County, MS. Yolanda Young, the supervisor of this SOG group, has also left the department. Former CPD Public Information Officer Raymond Hackler was the first person to put out the false narrative about a struggle between Ricky and Boykin in an article in The Clarion-Ledger. According to City Officials, neither Canyon Boykin, Johnny Branch nor Yolanda Young made an incident report about that deadly night (in total violation of the department's SOP on deadly force protocols) so how could Hackler have truly known if there was really a struggle or not? Hackler has also quit the police department. Garrett Mittan has also left the CPD and was hired by the City of Starkville, MS as a police officer about 20 miles away.
Canyon Boykin, Yolanda Young and Johnny Branch were all equipped with body cameras and audio recorders. None of their body cameras or audio recorders were activated prior to or during the shooting incident that resulted in the death of Ricky Ball. Yolanda Young had not turned on her body camera and audio recorder during the entire day that Ricky Ball was killed because she was not even wearing her video and audio recorder. Furthermore, Yolanda Young, the group's Supervisor, had not turned on her body camera nor her audio recorder for several days prior to the day Ricky Ball was killed. However, CPD reported that 30 seconds after the "shooting", Canyon Boykin decided to activate his body camera and audio recorder. What part of the "shooting" is the CPD referring to since at least 9 of Boykin's shell casings were recovered by the MBI? The question is...after which one of Boykin's 9 shots did he activate his camera and recorder and how did CPD get a time-stamp about the "shooting" when no body cameras or audio recorders were being used? The community was made aware by a Standards of Procedure (SOP) expert that body cameras and audio recorders are supposed to be activated before an officer turns on his blue lights so that the officer will have time to think about what he is about to do. Concerns about some police officers abusing the use of deadly force and police brutality, in general, are the main reasons communities nationwide have insisted their officers wear and use body cameras and audio recorders. So, why would neither Boykin, Young nor Branch turn on their body cameras and audio recorders on this fatal night when Ricky was killed? Even though they had been using their body cameras and audio recorders throughout their entire shift that day, every member of the SOG chose not to use their body cameras nor audio records when they were told to stop the car that Ricky Ball was riding in as a passenger.
Columbus Mayor Robert Smith says Canyon Boykin was fired because he did not turn his body camera or recorder on prior to the shooting and killing of Ricky Ball. Boykin also violated the city's social media policy after the shooting and killing of Ricky Ball by using racial slurs and other derogatory comments online. Additionally, Boykin's girlfriend at the time, Alisha Stanford, was riding in the police car with the SOG members without permission. In addition to all of these violations, Boykin had already been suspended previously for body camera and audio recorder violations before Ricky Ball was killed. Boykin's reckless attitude also caused the City to have to settle a racial profiling suit out of court with a Columbus resident before he murdered Ricky Ball. Branch and Young were suspended for 30 working days without pay for policy violations which also include not turning on their body cameras or recorders and allowing an unauthorized passenger, Alisha Stanford, in their unmarked police vehicle. Boykin, Young and Branch initiated appeals of their discipline claiming the discipline to be "too severe".
Columbus Police Department stated that the investigation into Ricky Ball's death and the conduct of the officers responsible for his death has been handed over to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI). With the MBI having a reputation of not indicting police officers, many community members had major concerns about the integrity and thoroughness of this officer-involved shooting investigation of former officer Canyon Boykin killing Ricky Ball, however our District Attorney stated the MBI submitted an investigative report to him of very substantial size. Reportedly, the internal investigation of the Columbus Police department is being conducted by the FBI.
The CPD former chief of police, Tony Carleton, neglected the citizens of Columbus by quitting in the infancy of the investigation. Although city officials could not have stopped Carleton from quitting, they could have all voted to reject his resignation which would have been reflected on his employment background. Ex-Police Chief Tony Carleton originally told the mayor he was going to leave his post to take a teaching job in Alabama, but Carleton is now working for the Oxford, MS police department as a rank and file training officer.
In their textbook approach to handle this crisis, city "leaders" and investigators have refused to offer any information that will give the community a better understanding of exactly why Ricky was targeted and killed. The city leaders that actually show concern through their efforts are few in number. Although the promise of transparency was the catch-phrase used by city officials in the beginning, useful information has been hard to come by from them.
Our community has no intentions related to violence. However, we are actively engaged in discovering the procedural violations and criminal misconduct of all parties involved in Ricky Ball's death. This includes but is not limited to the police officers on the scene, first responders and crime scene investigators.
Our energy is solely focused on receiving the COMPLETE TRUTH and ABSOLUTE JUSTICE for Ricky Ball from our local, state and national civil servants.
The MBI completed its investigation into Ricky's murder around June 1, 2016 and handed their findings over to MS District Attorney Scott Colom. District Attorney Colom, per his Office's policy, handed these police-involved shooting death findings over to the Attorney General's Office for the State of Mississippi. On September 7, 2016 a duly impaneled Lowndes County grand jury looked at the evidence provided by the MBI and after careful examination found that Canyon Boykin "did willfully, unlawfully, feloniously and unnecessarily kill Ricky Ball". Canyon Boykin was arraigned for his manslaughter indictment on September 9, 2016 in a vacation session arraignment held in the chambers of Judge Jim Kitchens.
On November 18, 2016 Circuit Court Judge Lee Coleman granted Canyon Boykin his request to have the venue of his trial changed to another county despite the arguments of then MS Assistant Attorney General, Jim Hood, that Boykin's case did not meet the standards for change of venue established by the MS Court of Appeals...
In early June 2020 newly elected republican Attorney General Lynn Fitch decided to let a killer walk and filed a motion to drop the charges against Canyon Boykin thereby completely ignoring the Lowndes County, MS grand jury indictment against Canyon Boykin for unlawfully killing Ricky Ball.
Fitch expects us to believe that her office found evidence of Boykin's innocence in 26 days even though over the past 4 years Boykin filed multiple motions to dismiss the case and had each of those motions denied by Judge Coleman and protested by Attorney General Jim Hood's office...
For more info and to support the Family of Ricky Ball and the Justice for Ricky Ball team, explore our website and revisit often for updates, like and share our Facebook page "Justice For Ricky Ball", follow us on Twitter @jusforrickyball, on Instgram @justice4rickyball and use the Contact Us link on this site.
Ricky, his daughter Bug and his cousins did not know October 16th would be their last opportunity to see their loved one. They WERE NOT expecting Ricky Ball to be killed on the night of October 16, 2015 by rogue members of the Columbus, Mississippi Police Department's special operations group (SOG). The senseless unlawful killing of Ricky Ball ensured that he, his daughter and his family would never see each other again.
The main officers involved are Canyon Boykin (the indicted shooter), Yolanda Young and Johnny "Max" Branch. According to multiple complaints, the SOG was known for harassment, aggressiveness and unlawful tactics used to exploit and violate the rights of citizens in the areas they frequently kept under surveillance. That fatal night of Ricky Ball's death, the SOG was not on patrol duty but were instead lurking on the north side of Columbus when they were contacted by a former CPD drug officer Joseph Strevel to stop the car in which Ricky was a passenger. The SOG officers knew exactly who Ricky Ball was when they stopped the vehicle and when Canyon Boykin shot and killed Ricky as he attempted to get away; because Boykin, Branch and Strevel had unsuccessfully attempted to stop Ricky and a relative of Boykin without probable cause less than two months earlier . Yet, the SOG member Canyon Boykin immediately recorded that shots were fired at an unknown person. Yes, the first piece of recorded evidence in this case was a lie.
Ricky Ball was killed for simply getting AWAY from SOG member Canyon Boykin one time too many. About two months before Canyon Boykin unlawfully killed Ricky Ball, Boykin and his partner Max Branch, without probable cause, attempted to stop Ricky when Boykin saw one of his relatives riding in the car with Ricky. Bodycam footage reveals that the only reason Boykin was interested in stopping them was because he saw his relative in the car with Ricky Ball. Boykin's relative was believed to be a friend of Ricky's girlfriend at the time.
The week before Ricky Ball was killed Ricky told one of his first cousins that Canyon Boykin pointed him out to another officer in front of a group of witnesses saying, "that m-f right there thinks he's above the law, but I'm gonna get him". The next week Canyon Boykin "got him" indeed.
Eyewitnesses, community members and news reports have stated these and more facts about the deadly night Ricky Ball was killed:
(A) According to news reports, a CPD narcotics agent, Joseph Strevel (who moved to the Sheriff's department in the same county), told Canyon Boykin and his SOG gang to stop the car that Ricky Ball was a passenger in because Ricky was targeted by Strevel based on an informant's tip to Strevel.
(B) This fact and the attempted stop of Ricky and Boykin's relative two months before show that Boykin, Strevel and the SOG knew exactly who Ricky was BEFORE the stop was made. Since there was an established history between Boykin, Branch, Strevel and Ricky from previous times Boykin engaged Ricky, all of them already knew Ricky was going to run. We believe Boykin, Strevel and the SOG were determined not to let Ricky get away from them this time.
This is the primary reason why we believe they all DECIDED not to turn on their body cameras until after Ricky Ball was shot multiple times even though they had been turning on their body camera earlier that same night during interactions with citizens. This information about the call from Strevel to the SOG also brings to light that even though the Official CPD Press Release by former Chief Tony Carleton states otherwise; a faulty tag-light was NOT the true reason Boykin and the SOG stopped the car in which Ricky was a passenger. In sworn testimony eyewitnesses also saw officers from the county or city picking up shell casings and relocating the spent casings to create a false crime scene. From the beginning there was a conspiracy to cover-up Ricky Ball's murder by multiple civil servants.
(C) When Canyon Boykin and his SOG gang pulled over the car driven by Shannon Brewer that Ricky was a passenger in, Ricky jumped out and was running AWAY before Boykin and his gang could even get out of their unmarked car.
(D) Boykin jumped out of his car and fired at least two shots at Ricky WITHOUT ANY interaction between him and Ricky whatsoever according to eyewitness testimony that the State Attorney General has in her possession. By the time Boykin began shooting, Ricky was yards away from him. By this time, Ricky was too far away from Boykin to be tased and too far away to be physically engaged in a scuffle. This distance between Boykin and Ricky will prove that it was impossible for Ricky to have been knocked down by a shot from Boykin's taser, then get up and scuffle with officers within the 10 SECONDS reported by authorities. Also, the fact is in court documents that Canyon Boykin's Taser was not fired until 10:49 PM that night. The traffic stop was called in around 10:08 PM, 41 minutes before Boykin's Taser was fired according to the taser's log. So we can see clearly that Boykin is lying in his civil lawsuit about what happened that night.
(E) While chasing Ricky, we believe Boykin may have fallen into a ditch that Ricky jumped over, and rose up in the ditch shooting several more shots at Ricky. People saw an officer near the ditch shooting that night. Ricky is running away from Boykin this whole time and at some point Ricky is hit from behind by some of Boykin's bullets.
(F) As Ricky is running through his neighborhood screaming "y'all help me, they gonna kill me," neighbors began coming outside their homes to see what all the shooting and yelling was about. One of Boykin's bullets shattered one neighbor's screen door window and lodged into her metal back door. Ricky eventually tried to hide, but Boykin and his gang found Ricky. Community members went to the area where the ambulance picked up Ricky and noticed how the leaves were disturbed as if someone was dragged at least 50ft.
(G) According to multiple community members who attended a people-packed city council meeting, officers on the scene were intimidating the people watching this incident by pointing guns at the witnesses and trying to make all witnesses leave the area completely. Community members at the Community meeting at Hunt High museum were saying Officers from the Columbus Police Department and the Lowndes County Sheriff's Office were seen huddled around Ricky's body with one Officer reaching towards Ricky's body and anything that was done to Ricky was done after Ricky was found and dragged. Canyon Boykin's Taser trigger log supports this view as well. Community members at the community meeting at Hunt High also said they saw the gun being dropped beside Ricky Ball while Ricky was laying there bleeding to death.
(H) The paramedics involved took entirely too long to move from their staging area, up the street from where Ricky was laying, to the actual place where Ricky laid bleeding to death. We believe the paramedics were purposefully held up by the officers on the scene to allow Ricky to bleed to death in a conspiracy to end Ricky's life. Police officers were seen entering and exiting the ambulance repeatedly before the paramedics headed to the hospital with Ricky's body. The paramedics did not leave the scene to take Ricky to the hospital with any sirens on or with any interior lights on or any police escorts. Even though multiple witnesses on the scene said they believe Ricky Ball was still alive when EMTs arrived at the staging area, Ricky was loaded into the back of the ambulance with no oxygen mask on his face nor were there any other life-saving efforts being performed on Ricky. There was a clear lack of urgency in transporting Ricky Ball to the hospital for treatment, a penetrating trauma victim with multiple gun shot wounds!... The paramedics simply eased off the shooting scene in no hurry at all as if they were carrying a dead body according to witnesses. There are multiple individuals ultimately responsible for Ricky Ball's death. We expect all of them to be held accountable.
In initial news articles former Police Chief Tony Carleton stated that Canyon Boykin said that Ricky pointed a gun at Boykin. It can not be overstated that this is the only allegation that Canyon Boykin could have used in order for him not to be arrested that same night for murder. Although this gun-pointing allegation has been repeated in news reports, former police chief Tony Carleton did not make this allegation part of his official CPD press release published almost two weeks after Ricky Ball was killed...
The fact that Boykin's partner, Johnny Branch, did not attempt to shoot Ricky Ball nor did Branch do anything else that suggests he thought Boykin's life was in danger shows any reasonable person that Ricky Ball did NOT point a gun at Boykin and there is no Real Evidence of Boykin's life ever being in danger from Ricky Ball. Officers claim that a gun was somehow "found" near where Ricky collapsed...as if a dying man is going to run through a neighborhood with a gun in his hand while being shot repeatedly and screaming for help... Community members at the Hunt High community meeting said an officer was seen dropping a gun on the crime scene as others officers were huddled around Ricky's body. Ironically, this same gun belongs to, Garrett Mittan, the first officer on the scene other than the SOG the night Ricky Ball was killed who was scene riding up 14th Avenue North with his lights off as he approached the crime scene. This same officer allegedly reported this gun stolen during one of two alleged burglaries of his home. However, the burglaries were not reported by the CPD until 12 days AFTER Ricky Ball was murdered, according to CPD police reports.
In the beginning of the investigation into Ricky's murder, the Chief of Police, Tony Carleton, resigned and the Assistant Chief, Tony McCoy, abruptly decided to retire. Carleton took a pay cut to come from the Tupelo, MS police department as chief to the Columbus Police department becoming chief in June 2014 and at some point brought in Assistant Chief McCoy from Tupelo also. Less than 18 months after Carleton became chief of police in Columbus, both he and his assistant chief decided to quit. Canyon Boykin attempted to resign but his resignation was rejected by the the city council. The Columbus City Council decided to fire Canyon Boykin instead. Only because the Columbus City government was slow to act they could not technically fire Boykin after he quit so a settlement was reached out of court. Joseph Strevel, the CPD drug officer who told Boykin to stop the car in which Ricky Ball was a passenger, has also resigned from the Columbus Police Department. Strevel is now reportedly working for the local Sheriff's Department in Lowndes County, MS. Yolanda Young, the supervisor of this SOG group, has also left the department. Former CPD Public Information Officer Raymond Hackler was the first person to put out the false narrative about a struggle between Ricky and Boykin in an article in The Clarion-Ledger. According to City Officials, neither Canyon Boykin, Johnny Branch nor Yolanda Young made an incident report about that deadly night (in total violation of the department's SOP on deadly force protocols) so how could Hackler have truly known if there was really a struggle or not? Hackler has also quit the police department. Garrett Mittan has also left the CPD and was hired by the City of Starkville, MS as a police officer about 20 miles away.
Canyon Boykin, Yolanda Young and Johnny Branch were all equipped with body cameras and audio recorders. None of their body cameras or audio recorders were activated prior to or during the shooting incident that resulted in the death of Ricky Ball. Yolanda Young had not turned on her body camera and audio recorder during the entire day that Ricky Ball was killed because she was not even wearing her video and audio recorder. Furthermore, Yolanda Young, the group's Supervisor, had not turned on her body camera nor her audio recorder for several days prior to the day Ricky Ball was killed. However, CPD reported that 30 seconds after the "shooting", Canyon Boykin decided to activate his body camera and audio recorder. What part of the "shooting" is the CPD referring to since at least 9 of Boykin's shell casings were recovered by the MBI? The question is...after which one of Boykin's 9 shots did he activate his camera and recorder and how did CPD get a time-stamp about the "shooting" when no body cameras or audio recorders were being used? The community was made aware by a Standards of Procedure (SOP) expert that body cameras and audio recorders are supposed to be activated before an officer turns on his blue lights so that the officer will have time to think about what he is about to do. Concerns about some police officers abusing the use of deadly force and police brutality, in general, are the main reasons communities nationwide have insisted their officers wear and use body cameras and audio recorders. So, why would neither Boykin, Young nor Branch turn on their body cameras and audio recorders on this fatal night when Ricky was killed? Even though they had been using their body cameras and audio recorders throughout their entire shift that day, every member of the SOG chose not to use their body cameras nor audio records when they were told to stop the car that Ricky Ball was riding in as a passenger.
Columbus Mayor Robert Smith says Canyon Boykin was fired because he did not turn his body camera or recorder on prior to the shooting and killing of Ricky Ball. Boykin also violated the city's social media policy after the shooting and killing of Ricky Ball by using racial slurs and other derogatory comments online. Additionally, Boykin's girlfriend at the time, Alisha Stanford, was riding in the police car with the SOG members without permission. In addition to all of these violations, Boykin had already been suspended previously for body camera and audio recorder violations before Ricky Ball was killed. Boykin's reckless attitude also caused the City to have to settle a racial profiling suit out of court with a Columbus resident before he murdered Ricky Ball. Branch and Young were suspended for 30 working days without pay for policy violations which also include not turning on their body cameras or recorders and allowing an unauthorized passenger, Alisha Stanford, in their unmarked police vehicle. Boykin, Young and Branch initiated appeals of their discipline claiming the discipline to be "too severe".
Columbus Police Department stated that the investigation into Ricky Ball's death and the conduct of the officers responsible for his death has been handed over to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI). With the MBI having a reputation of not indicting police officers, many community members had major concerns about the integrity and thoroughness of this officer-involved shooting investigation of former officer Canyon Boykin killing Ricky Ball, however our District Attorney stated the MBI submitted an investigative report to him of very substantial size. Reportedly, the internal investigation of the Columbus Police department is being conducted by the FBI.
The CPD former chief of police, Tony Carleton, neglected the citizens of Columbus by quitting in the infancy of the investigation. Although city officials could not have stopped Carleton from quitting, they could have all voted to reject his resignation which would have been reflected on his employment background. Ex-Police Chief Tony Carleton originally told the mayor he was going to leave his post to take a teaching job in Alabama, but Carleton is now working for the Oxford, MS police department as a rank and file training officer.
In their textbook approach to handle this crisis, city "leaders" and investigators have refused to offer any information that will give the community a better understanding of exactly why Ricky was targeted and killed. The city leaders that actually show concern through their efforts are few in number. Although the promise of transparency was the catch-phrase used by city officials in the beginning, useful information has been hard to come by from them.
Our community has no intentions related to violence. However, we are actively engaged in discovering the procedural violations and criminal misconduct of all parties involved in Ricky Ball's death. This includes but is not limited to the police officers on the scene, first responders and crime scene investigators.
Our energy is solely focused on receiving the COMPLETE TRUTH and ABSOLUTE JUSTICE for Ricky Ball from our local, state and national civil servants.
The MBI completed its investigation into Ricky's murder around June 1, 2016 and handed their findings over to MS District Attorney Scott Colom. District Attorney Colom, per his Office's policy, handed these police-involved shooting death findings over to the Attorney General's Office for the State of Mississippi. On September 7, 2016 a duly impaneled Lowndes County grand jury looked at the evidence provided by the MBI and after careful examination found that Canyon Boykin "did willfully, unlawfully, feloniously and unnecessarily kill Ricky Ball". Canyon Boykin was arraigned for his manslaughter indictment on September 9, 2016 in a vacation session arraignment held in the chambers of Judge Jim Kitchens.
On November 18, 2016 Circuit Court Judge Lee Coleman granted Canyon Boykin his request to have the venue of his trial changed to another county despite the arguments of then MS Assistant Attorney General, Jim Hood, that Boykin's case did not meet the standards for change of venue established by the MS Court of Appeals...
In early June 2020 newly elected republican Attorney General Lynn Fitch decided to let a killer walk and filed a motion to drop the charges against Canyon Boykin thereby completely ignoring the Lowndes County, MS grand jury indictment against Canyon Boykin for unlawfully killing Ricky Ball.
Fitch expects us to believe that her office found evidence of Boykin's innocence in 26 days even though over the past 4 years Boykin filed multiple motions to dismiss the case and had each of those motions denied by Judge Coleman and protested by Attorney General Jim Hood's office...
For more info and to support the Family of Ricky Ball and the Justice for Ricky Ball team, explore our website and revisit often for updates, like and share our Facebook page "Justice For Ricky Ball", follow us on Twitter @jusforrickyball, on Instgram @justice4rickyball and use the Contact Us link on this site.
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