Published: July 01, 2009 12:16 am      

Homeless man found dead in alley

Scene sheds light on tragic drama of man's final resting place

The small alleyway that stretches about 40 yards between Hope Village Thrift Store on Eighth Street and the Jubilee Mennonite Church on 28th Avenue is different than most.

For starters, it's one of the cleaner lanes in central Meridian. The normal trash that might be found in other alleys — soda cans, fast food bags, and cigarette butts — is virtually nonexistent. It's also fairly noisy. On Tuesday, the roar of a nearby lawnmower and the constant flow of cars on Eighth Street filled the alley. Despite the sounds of routine life, the alley's unexposed location provides a sense of protection.

In between the dark-brown painted concrete wall of a business facing Eighth Street and the wire fence is a cubbyhole — slightly wider than the width of an average man's shoulders. The dirt provides a relatively cool place to nap away an afternoon — especially for someone without a home.

But despite the relative attractiveness the alley may have for someone who is homeless, it is still no place to live. Even more, it's a lonely place to die.

That cubbyhole in downtown Meridian is where one 52-year-old man took his last breath sometime Sunday night.

A death investigation was launched early Tuesday morning when patrolmen with the Meridian Police Department were called to the alley after a passerby found the unidentified homeless drifter unresponsive. Lauderdale County Coroner Clayton Cobler said the man died Sunday night. Detectives with the MPD were called in to process the scene. The body of the deceased was transported to Jackson for an autopsy. Some early reports showed the man might have once lived in the Hickory area. Cobler said the initial report from medical examiners should arrive sometime today or Thursday at the latest.

"I'm not going to speculate as to the cause of death until we get the preliminary report back," Cobler said Tuesday morning. "I have my suspicions but I'll keep that under my hat for now until we know for sure."

Capt. James Sharpe, commander of the MPD's Investigative Division, said detectives have processed the scene and are preparing to send some physical items to the Mississippi State Crime Lab.

Sharpe said an employee of one of the Meridian hospitals who routinely travels the alley to work discovered the body.

"At about 7 a.m. Monday the passerby noticed the body lying in the little space between the fence and the concrete wall," Sharpe said. "When he came back through Tuesday morning he realized the body hadn't moved. That is when he suspected something may be wrong and called 911 who then dispatched patrolmen to the location."