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November 21, 2022 - West Shelby County Volunteer Fire Department (WSCVFD) reports they responded to a vehicle fire on Tuesday, November 15, 2022 on FM 711.
The firemen left the station at 7:07pm with two brush trucks and were back in station by 7:40pm. The vehicle fire was in a truck belonging to Ashley Ronalds. The fire appeared to have started in the wiring in the dashboard.
Six firemen responded to the call and took quick action to extinguish the flames.
November 21, 2022 - The Joaquin Volunteer Fire Department had a relatively light week from November 13th through 19th with just 3 total calls. Here's a summary of the week's events.
Sunday evening the JVFD was called to block the entrance to the Sand Isle community per the request of the Shelby County Sheriff's Office due to a manhunt in the area. Several law enforcement agencies from Shelby County and DeSoto Parish were present on the scene and were able to locate and apprehend the suspect.
Both Monday's and Saturday's calls pertained to a lift assist on County Road 3177. JVFD EMRs assisted Allegiance EMS with getting the patient out of the floor and making sure they had the medical help they needed.
In other news, the JVFD hosted a blood drive with Lifeshare Blood Centers on Saturday and collected over 20 units of blood. Just one unit of blood has the potential to help two or more people in need, so Saturday's drive was a resounding success. Thanks to all of those who donated blood and Lifeshare for this great life-saving opportunity.
With that, this report will come to a close. The Joaquin Volunteer Fire Department hopes everyone has a safe week and a happy Thanksgiving.
November 18, 2022 - The Shelby County Courthouse will be closed Thursday and Friday for Thanksgiving and will return to normal hours on Monday, November 28.
The County wishes everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving!
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November 16, 2022 - The Timpson City Council remembered their friend and fellow council member during their meeting held Tuesday, November 15, 2022.
Debra Pate Smith, Timpson Mayor, shared a statement at the onset of the meeting as follows, "A month ago our council met just like we do most every month to serve the citizens of Timpson. The next morning, October 19, 2022, tragically the City of Timpson learned that our council and our community had lost a 'good and faithful servant.' We were shocked, saddened and couldn't imagine the loss his family and close friends would be facing. Nothing prepares us for this type of tragedy, but thankfully Kenny Walker was prepared.
"As a former scout leader his motto was to always be prepared. At the beautiful celebration of Kenny's life I learned a multitude of ways and people that he served. I have no doubt on that morning our fellow councilman, a Christian who loved and served the Lord, heard the beautiful words spoken in Matthew 25 verse 21, 'Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make the ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.
"Kenny Walker will be missed as a citizen, a friend, a neighbor, and a public servant and we want to thank his family for supporting him in serving the City of Timpson."
A plaque was then presented which will hang on the wall in City Hall as a reminder of Walker's service to the community.
Presented to Walker's family was a token of appreciation in recognition of Walker's service to the City of Timpson.
Meeting agenda items approved during the meeting include: 1. Consent Agenda Items A. Minutes from the Regular Meeting held October, 2022 B. Financial Statement for the month of October, 2022 C. Accounts Payable for the month of November, 2022 2. Move $15,000 from CD 31414 at American State Bank to Woodlawn Cemetery Savings account 4759 at Austin Bank. 3. Frank Campos to remain as the City’s auditor for FY 2020-2021. 4. Aquatic Services quote to replace the second flowmeter at the sewer plant in the amount of $12,000, using funds from the ARPA account. 5. Order a Special Election to be held May 6, 2023 for the unexpired Council term 2022-2024. 6. Ordinance 20221115-01 calling a Special Election on May 6, 2023 to elect a Councilman for the duration of the unexpired 2022-2024 term. 7. Notice of Special Election, May 6, 2023 to notify voters of time, date and location of the special election. 8. Order an election to be held May 6, 2023, General Election day, for the three council seats, term 2023-2025. 9. Ordinance 20221115-02 calling an election on May 6, 2023 to elect three Councilman for 2023-2025 term. 10. Notice of a General Election, May 6, 2023 to notify voters of time, date and location of the election. 11. Adjourn.
November 16, 2022 - Details in the murder investigation of Sarah Hopson and the subsequent arrest of Ethan Kyle Myers have now come to light also revealing the alleged complicity of two other individuals in attempting to hide or destroy evidence.
According to the affidavit Allen Price and Teresa Louviere, who have been charged with tampering/fabricating evidence with intent to impair - human corpse, initially went to the Shelby County Sheriff's Department and reported their concerns for the welfare of Hopson stating, "Ethan Myers had done something to Sarah Hopson." Upon arrival of deputies to the residence of Allen and Louviere on CR 3635 they discovered a body, later determined to be that of Hopson, wrapped within a carpet in the residence.
Ethan Myers had been staying at the residence since November 12, and on November 13 Myers had been acting strangely, according to the affidavit, and was seen fleeing the residence with blood on his person. Meanwhile, Price and Louviere had stated they had not seen Hopson since November 12 and were concerned for her safety.
The affidavit goes on to outline what appears to be an attempt to cover up the death of Hopson by someone having recently painted the bedroom where she was located and several painting supplies were also found there. Paint had been observed by one investigator on the pants leg of Price.
While investigators were at the scene, Myers mother arrived and informed them Myers told her he was in the woods and did not want to go back to jail. The affidavit further says the mother relayed to the officers Myers had told her Hopson wanted to be sacrificed and Myers stated to her he had sacrificed her. His mother stated Myers, "hears voices and is satanic."
The affidavit further describes an odor of cleaning products was evident in the residence and as they further investigated they discovered Hopson had a head wound and her fingers, toes and ears had been removed and placed in a freezer bag. Plastic convenience store bags were also found containing used towels, rags and empty cleaning product containers. A pair of jeans were also found containing the identification card of Myers.
Myers' car was searched at the residence, and according to the affidavit, found within the vehicle were a shovel, plastic bags, a gallon of gasoline, hammer, tire tool, and a large rock in a trash bag that smelled very strongly like gasoline and the tip of which the investigators considered to be consistent with the head wounds of Hopson.
Investigators sprayed the middle bedroom with forensic fluid that glows when it comes into contact with blood and there was, according to the affidavit, evidence of hand prints and wiping marks on the walls and freshly painted door suggesting someone had tried to clean the walls.
During interview of Price, the affidavit says, Price advised Myers had been participating in cult activity.
Myers is being held in the Shelby County Jail on $1 million bond for Murder, Felony 1, and a $250,000 bond for evading arrest. Price and Louviere both received $250,000 bonds for tampering/fabricating evidence with intent to impair - human corpse.
Bonds were set by Donna Hughes, Justice of the Peace Precinct 1.
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November 15, 2022 - Shelby County Justice of the Peace Donna Hughes set $1.75 million in bonds in connection to the murder of Sarah Hopson of Joaquin.
Arraignment hearings were held Tuesday, November 15, 2022 for Ethan Myers, 26 of Joaquin; Allen Price, 37 of Joaquin; and Teresa Louviere, 51 of Sour Lake, Texas. Ethan Myers received a $1 million bond for Murder, Felony 1, and a $250,000 bond for evading arrest. Price and Louviere both received $250,000 bonds for tampering/fabricating evidence with intent to impair - human corpse.
Hopson, who was 36 years old, was found deceased following a welfare check on Sunday, November 13. All three suspects in connection to the death of Hopson were taken into custody the same day.
November 15, 2022 - On November 9, 2022, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality required the Shelbyville public water system, 2100014 to issue a Boil Water Notice to inform customers, individuals, or employees that due to conditions which occurred recently in the public water system, the water from this public water system was required to be boiled prior to use for drinking water or human consumption purposes.
The public water system has taken the necessary corrective actions to restore the quality of the water distributed by this public water system used for drinking water or human consumption purposes and has provided TCEQ with laboratory test results that indicate that the water no longer requires boiling prior to use as of November 15, 2022.
If you have questions concerning this matter, you may contact Rodney Warr 936-591-5338.
November 9, 2022 - Due to a loss of pressure from water outage The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has required the Shelbyville Water system, ID# 2100014 to notify customers that were without water 11/08/2022 on FM 417 E and 417 W and downtown Shelbyville (anyone without water) to boil their water, prior to consumption (e.g., washing hands/face, brushing teeth, drinking, etc). Children, seniors, and persons with weakened immune systems are particularly vulnerable to harmful bacteria, and all customers should follow these directions.
To ensure destruction of all harmful bacteria and other microbes, water for drinking, cooking, and ice making should be boiled and cooled prior to use for drinking water or human consumption purposes. The water should be brought to a vigorous rolling boil and then boiled for two minutes.
In lieu of boiling, individuals may purchase bottled water or obtain water from some other suitable source for drinking water or human consumption purposes.
When it is no longer necessary to boil the water, the public water system officials will notify customers that the water is safe for drinking water or human consumption purposes.
Once the boil water notice is no longer in effect, the public water system will issue a notice to customers that rescinds the boil water notice in a manner similar to this notice.
Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.
If you have questions concerning this matter, you may contact Rodney Warr 936-591-5338.
Update 11:47pm - According to the Shelby County Sheriff's Department, Ethan Myers was charged with Felony 1 Murder and booked into the Shelby County Jail on Monday, November 14, 2022.
Also booked into the Shelby County Jail on November 14, 2022 by the Shelby County Sheriff's Department were Allen Price, 26 of Joaquin, and Teresa Louviere, 51 of Sour Lake, Texas. Both had charges of Tamper/Fabricate Physical Evidence with Intent Impair Human Corpse.
Update 11:50am - Shelby County Sheriff Kevin W. Windham reports the arrest of Ethan Myers, 26, of Joaquin, in connection with a homicide investigation.
On Sunday, November 13, 2022 at approximately 4 p.m. deputies responded to a welfare check on County Road 3625 in Joaquin. Upon entering the residence, deputies discovered the body of Sarah Hopson, 36, of Joaquin.
Myers was arrested for resisting arrest and booked into the Shelby County Jail. This investigation is ongoing and more charges are expected. Further information will be released at a later time.
November 14, 2022 - Shelby County Sheriff Kevin Windham confirms an incident in the Joaquin area where a woman was discovered to have lost her life due to an apparent violent act.
Deputies responded to the Sand Isle Community on Sunday, November 13, 2022, around 4pm on CR 3625 for a welfare check on Sara Hopson, 36, of Joaquin discovered her body.
Multiple agencies, including the use of helicopter support, responded to the scene and assisted the Shelby County Sheriff's Department in locating the suspect Ethan Myers, 26, of Joaquin who was later taken into custody.
Further details from the Sheriff's Department are pending at this time.
November 14, 2022 - The week of November 6th through 12th was a busy one for the Joaquin Volunteer Fire Department with 6 total outings. Here’s a summary of the weeks events.
The calls began Sunday night with a person in need of medical attention in the lobby of the Executive Inn and Suites on the Haslam strip. The JVFD EMR team responded to monitor the patients vitals until Allegiance EMS could arrive for transport.
The next call came in early Tuesday morning for a trailer house on fire in the Cool Breeze trailer park. First responders on the scene found a fully involved trailer with the roof already caved in. With help from DeSoto Fire District 1, the JVFD was able to completely extinguish the blaze after about 2 hours of fighting.
Another medical call would come in Wednesday evening, this time at the Family Dollar on Highway 84 East. This patient was suffering from some form of respiratory distress with chest pain. The EMRs responded to monitor the patient until Allegiance could arrive to transport him to a local emergency room.
Both Thursday’s and Friday’s calls would be in regards to DOAs on County Road 3455 and North Preston Street respectively. The JVFD responded to assist funeral home personnel with collecting the deceased people.
The final call for the week came in Saturday afternoon for a person feeling ill and dehydrated on County Road 3635. The JVFD arrived at a similar time to Allegiance, and assisted in getting the patient to the ambulance.
In other news, the Joaquin VFD will be hosting another blood drive with Lifeshare Blood Center this Saturday, November 19th from 9am to 2pm at JVFD Central Station on the downtown square in Joaquin. Those who come to donate blood will be given coupons for free turkeys and hams, just in time for Thanksgiving.
With that, this report will come to a close. The Joaquin Volunteer Fire Department hopes everyone has a great and safe week going forward.
November 8, 2022 - Sheriff Kevin Windham and Don Moore, Jail Administrator, provided an update to the commissioners on the current population of the Shelby County Jail during their October 26, 2022, meeting.
At the previous weeks meeting of the Commissioners' Court Roscoe McSwain, Commissioner Precinct 1, had made a point of directing the other commissioners to pay attention to the overtime pay being made to some jailers.
"What I'm here for is to address some of the concerns about our jail and those would include our jail population, meal cost and things of that nature, our overtime, and of course the court has shown interest in all of these items," said Sheriff Windham.
Sheriff Windham indicated Moore was there with some of the numbers to help make them aware of what the jail is contending with at this time.
The jail has 66 beds; however, as Moore explained that doesn't mean the jail can actually house 66.
"The proper numbers have to fall in line, you have to have so many females and also we classify inmates as they come in as medium, minimum or maximum security and we by law can house [medium] and maximum together, but we can't house minimum and maximum," said Moore.
Criminal history and the charge they have while they are in the jail are calculated to designate each inmates classification.
"Mental health's not going anywhere, we have four separation cells in our jail and right now they're housed with four severely mentally ill inmates," said Moore. "They can't be in general population, they can't survive in general population, it's a constant fight, a constant battle in there. So, they have to be in those individual cells."
This leads to another difficulty, according to Moore, when they receive a violent inmate while having those other cells occupied that violent inmate may spend a day alone in the holding tank. Moore stated that by law they can only be in such a situation for 48 hours.
"They have to have access to a shower, have to have access to recreation one hour a day and that leads to a problem, which leads to disciplinary problems," said Moore.
Examples of disciplinary problems that Moore highlighted include, not being able to put those violent inmates in a single cell, not being able to take away phone privileges because taking away one would then mean taking away from all inmates in that cell.
"The rest of them are six, four and eight man tanks. One inmate can be causing all kinds of problems and when you discipline, you discipline them all," said Moore.
He said if commissary is taken away from one inmate, a way they have found around that is to have family members put money on someone else's account who's in the cell where they are housed and that inmate buys commissary for them.
"[This] leads to a lot of disrespect inside the jail for our officers who have to deal with a lot," said Moore.
He indicated there needs to be a way to find places for mental health inmates to go to open up those cells they occupy.
The current actual population in the jail was 56 and he said those who are in on violation of probation, parole, and failure to appear need to get in and out of there as quickly as possible.
"That's the problem inside the jail as we speak right now with the housing mainly because the four cells are taken up with mental health people, and I have other mental health people, I have one in holding right now waiting on a bed somewhere else I have no place to put him," said Moore.
Moore said that in the previous years $149,443.65 was spent on food for the inmates and he is searching for ways to keep the food costs down, meanwhile the cost of food continues to rise and the jail continues to have a higher population.
One suggestion Moore had was to have a "Kitchen Boss" in the kitchen once again to help prevent waste. He said when the jail board was moved out of the dispatch and into its own location, that person then went to operate the jail board.
"I just wanted to let you know, for the year 2023 we're looking at going over budget again," said Moore.
Moore addressed the issue with the commissioners of overtime in the jail.
"We have 13 correctional officers, including myself, we also have three part-time officers one of which we just hired," said Moore. "We have two young men that are temporary licensed, they can't work by there self yet because they only have a temporary license by the state, they've not been fully licensed by the state to work by there self."
Moore explained issues they run into with overtime in the jail is they have to have one officer for 48 inmates and this means there have to be two officers in the jail at all times, plus one on the jail board. This puts three officers on 12 hours shifts totaling six officers a day. One officer has been out on family medical leave, another one has been dealing with another medical issue, and a third was out.
"By law we have to have that one to 48 we can't just ignore that, we have to have two officers back there," said Moore. "Two of them is not licensed, so our supervisors had to work in those places while those men were out, and what that does, it creates a lot of overtime for them."
He explained the jail board operator doesn't really count as a third, because they can't leave the board, they must stay there to control the doors.
Commissioners Bellmyer inquired the definition of a high-risk pregnancy, which refers to an inmate in the jail, and Moore stated that meant she was at risk for losing the baby.
"She was supposed to be in court this week, but her attorney has Covid so it had to be postponed," said Sheriff Windham.
Judge Allison Harbison presented a service agreement between Integrated Prescription Management and Shelby County Indigent Healthcare for the commissioners to consider.
"All of our pharmacies in this county have elected not to take our indigent healthcare program so Jenney [Chessher] and I reached out to IHS who handles our indigent healthcare, that's who we use to help us throughout how to do the program," said Judge Harbison.
IHS introduced Judge Harbison to Integrated Prescription Management who will take over the prescription portion of indigent healthcare and bill the county for that service.
Other counties who utilize Integrated Prescription Management have reported saving money for their indigent healthcare programs.
A motion carried to enter into a one year contract with IPM to provide indigent healthcare pharmaceutical support.
Agenda items approved during the meeting include: 1. Pay weekly expenses. 2. Current Payroll. 3. Commissioner Pct 4 Tom Bellmyer to purchase a new pickup Truck with cash funds in the amount of $39,500 4. Continue burn ban. 5. Service Agreement between Integrated Prescription Management and Shelby County Indigent Healthcare. 6. Award the purchase of election equipment to Election Systems and Software Elections in the amount of $197,256 to be funded by American Rescue Plan Act funds. 7. Select ALert Company for roofing services for the County Jail and Sheriff's Office through TIPS contract #21060301 to be funded by the American Rescue Plan Act Funds in the amount of $386,275. 8. Adjourn at 10:33am Agenda items tabled during the meeting include: 1. District Attorney Karren Price to present a proposed budget for the Pretrial Intervention Program Fund pursuant to the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Chapter 102, Article 102.0121 which requires the Commissioner's to approve her proposed budget.
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