A Webster County man has been charged with homicide in last week’s shooting death of his wife at their home west of Eupora.
The Webster County Sheriff’s Department identified the victim as Kayla Simmons Campbell, 40.
Deputy Coroner Kasey Skelton said the initial 911 call about the shooting was received around 6:45 p.m. July 6. Sheriff David Gore said Webster 911 told the WCSD that the caller stated he had shot his wife, Campbell, in their house at 4624 Mt. Vernon Road.
Sgt. Andrew Banks said the Sheriff’s Department cleared the scene for Emergency Medical Services. Banks said he and Skelton performed CPR about five minutes on Campbell before EMS arrived and pronounced her dead at the scene.
Gore said her husband, Darnell Campbell, was arrested at the scene without incident. He was booked into the county jail on a charge of homicide and Justice Court Judge Rebecca Ellison set bond at $75,000.
Darnell Campbell, also 40, posted bail Saturday morning and was released pending an appearance this afternoon (Friday) in Webster County Justice Court. He had not been appointed an attorney as of Tuesday and court officials did not know if he has retained his own attorney.
Banks, in a charging affidavit filed June 7, alleged Darnell Campbell killed his wife “by firing a gun four to five times at her, striking her twice in the chest, face and arm while engaged in a domestic altercation.” He was formally charged under Mississippi Code 97-3-15, which as summarized covers “Homicide; murder defined; first-degree murder; second-degree murder; capital murder; lesser-included offenses.”
Banks would only identify the weapon used as a firearm and said it has been recovered. The Campbells’ 5-year-old daughter nor anyone else was in the house at the time of the shooting, he said.
Kayla Campbell was a 2000 graduate of Eupora High School. She had been employed as a Youth Service counselor for Oktibbeha and Choctaw counties for nearly five years, according to her Linkedin profile. Her body has been sent to Jackson for an autopsy.
