Conspiracy Charges Against 5 in School Killings Dismissed

A judge dismissed conspiracy charges Wednesday against five teenagers accused of plotting a deadly shooting rampage at a high school last fall.

Circuit Judge Robert Goza threw out the charges at the request of Dist. Atty. John Kitchens, who said Mississippi’s conspiracy law would make proving the charges difficult.

“I’m not saying that these people are not involved in this, but it would not be the right thing to do to prosecute the case at this time,” Kitchens said.

Two students were slain Oct. 1 at Pearl High School in the first of a series of deadly school shootings around the country.

Luke Woodham, 17, was convicted last month of killing his former girlfriend, Christina Menefee, and student Lydia Dew and wounding seven other students.

Woodham was sentenced to two life terms for the slayings and 20 years for each of seven aggravated assault charges. He also is serving a third life sentence for stabbing his mother to death the same day as the school attack.

Goza’s ruling means that Delbert Allen Shaw, 19, Wesley Brownell, 18, and Donald Brooks, 18, are free of all charges.

Conspiracy charges also were dismissed against Grant Boyette, 19, and Justin Sledge, 17, but they still face trials on accessory to murder charges. Goza said he will allow separate trials for the two.

A sixth suspect, 16-year-old Lucas Thompson, had his case transferred to Youth Court, where records are secret.