Family and friend hug as officials investigate a homicide at a residence on County Road 301 in Oxford, Miss., Friday, Nov. 8, 2013. Police say Carol Lavett Gary, 43, and her son Patrick Earl Gary, 12, were found shot to death Friday morning. (Photo/Thomas Graning)
A man was arrested Friday after a mother and son were discovered dead early Friday morning in their Oxford home in the South Oaks subdivision off South Lamar Boulevard. Regis Mister, 25, was charged with two counts of murder for the murders of Carol Gary, 43, and her son Patrick Earl Gary Jr., 12. Mister is Carol Gary’s oldest son.
Mister is being held in the Lafayette County Detention Center and will face an initial court appearance today in the Lafayette County Justice Court.
Carol Gary was the principal at Davidson Elementary School in Water Valley. Patrick Earl Gary Jr. was a student at Oxford Middle School. Students at Davidson Elementary signed posters in memory of Gary and honored her before Water Valley High School’s football game Friday night.
Grief counselors were made available to teachers and students at Oxford Middle School, according to Oxford School District Communications Director Kelly Graeber.
Oxford Police Chief Joey East said Mister was a former Yalobusha County law enforcement officer. WTVA in Tupelo reported that Mister was terminated from his position as a school resource officer in the Water Valley School District after misusing the department’s fuel payment card.
A spokesperson for the Yalobusha County Sheriff’s Department could not be reached over the weekend, but a statement was posted to the department’s Facebook page.
“The Yalobusha County Sheriff Department sends our condolences to the family of Dr. Carol Gary and her son P.J.,” it says. “Dr. Gary was a beloved member of our community and will be sorely missed. She was truly an educator by heart and her passion for her students was evident by the way she cared for each student.”
The Garys’ bodies were sent to the State Crime Lab for autopsies Friday, and funeral arrangements will be made at a funeral home in Grenada.
— Adam Ganucheau
