By Billy Davis

Tommy “Burnside” Moore was shot multiple times and was most likely dead when he was driven in his Buick Roadmaster to Tom Floyd Road, Assistant District Attorney Jay Hale said this week. Moore’s body was found on May 6 on another road near Como.

Hale, citing a sheriff’s investigation now winding down, said the alleged murder weapon has been recovered.

The Panolian reported Tuesday that three Como men are facing capital murder charges for killing Burnside, 32, also of Como.

Charged with capital murder are cousins Odell McBrayer Jr. and Larry McBrayer Jr., and Antonio Glover.

A capital murder charge means another crime was committed.

“The other crime is kidnapping,” Hale said.

Conviction for capital murder could mean a death sentence, or a life sentence with or without parole, according to Mississippi law.

The motive is said to be a dispute over an unknown quantity of stolen narcotics, said Panola sheriff’s investigator Barry Thompson.  

The narcotics, believed to be marijuana, have not been recovered, said Thompson.

DNA confirms identity

An autopsy performed this week confirmed that Moore died of gunshot wounds, said Panola County coroner Gracie Grant-Gulledge.

Another official who is familiar with the case has said Moore’s body was also burned, most likely in an attempt to hide his identity.

A body believed to be Moore was found May 6 in a drainage ditch on Paul White Road, not far from where his torched Buick was found earlier on Tom Floyd Road.

A DNA test performed this week confirmed the body was Moore, the coroner said.

The coroner also reported Moore’s legal name is Tommy Walton, “and that’s how it will read on his death certificate,” she said. 

The other charges

Four others are facing a felony arson charge for allegedly burning down a house, at 217 Ford Street in Como, to destroy evidence.

Glover lived at that address, a rental house, and Moore lived next door with his mother, Lillie Moore. 

Marshall Doneil Little, Fredrick Terrell Moss, Credrick Demond Walker and Derrek Eugene Faulker, all of Como, are facing the arson charge.

An eighth suspect, Edrico Echols of Como, is charged with accessory after the fact, meaning he allegedly knew of Moore’s murder and helped cover it up.

Hale, explaining the accessory charge, said investigators allege Echols “cleaned up” the crime scene at the Ford Street home and in Moore’s automobile. He would not speculate further.

Some of the suspects are cooperating with investigators, Hale reported.

Glover was ‘ringleader’

Lillie Moore filed a missing person report Friday, April 29 at the Como Police Department. She told police she had last seen her son two days earlier, a Wednesday. 

Moore’s girlfriend, Brunkeisha Black, told police she last saw Moore on April 28, a Thursday, when he left her apartment with Glover.

Como firefighters responded to the Ford Street house fire two days later, on a Saturday night.

Hale described Glover as the likely “ringleader” of those charged with capital murder.

“I’ve heard Glover’s name before, in the court system,” said Hale. “That name has popped up in the past.”

“Antonio Glover has been on law enforcement’s radar for a while,” said sheriff’s deputy Lt. Earl Burdette, who is familiar with names in the Como area.

Burdette, asked about Glover’s relationship with Moore, described them as friends.

“They hung out together,” Burdette said. “Como is small. They lived next door to each other.”

Hale credited Thompson, the sheriff’s investigator, and MBI investigator Tim Douglas for pursuing the murder investigation.

“Those two — they didn’t stop,” Hale said. “I hope they work together again.”

A second sheriff’s investigator, Albert Perkins, and MBI investigator Joey Mauney also worked on the murder case, Hale said.