Killer of Mo. woman in R'land for conference convicted
2015 SHOOTING

Killer of Mo. woman in R'land for conference convicted

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RIDGELAND — A Jackson man who went on a shooting rampage in 2015 was found guilty last Thursday of murdering a Missouri mother and grandmother in town for a business conference.

Zebulum Lael James, 27, was convicted on Dec. 3 after a Madison County jury found him guilty in the death of Kristy Lynn Mitchell at the old Logan’s Roadhouse at the intersection of County Line Road and U.S. 51.

Last year a Hinds County jury took less than an hour to convict James of murdering a Madison woman in Jackson the same night where he was given a life sentence.

James said then he had no memory of the night of the shootings that killed Suzanne Hogan, 48, of Madison at a Shell convenience store on Watkins Drive and Beasley Road and Mitchell in Ridgeland.

Madison County District Attorney Bubba Bramlett said that on November 19, 2015, Ridgeland Police responded to a shooting at the Logan’s that is now Chuckles Comedy House.

Upon arrival, RPD located Mitchell, 49, who was staying at the nearby Drury Inn and had walked over to the restaurant for dinner. 

As soon as he learned his mother had been shot, Matthew Mitchell jumped in his car at Fort Hood, Texas, and aimed toward Jackson, he told The Kansas City Star then.

“As soon as I got the call, I left,” the serviceman said. “But I got another call about two hours into the drive that she had passed.”

Bramlett said in a statement following the murder conviction: “First, our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Mrs. Mitchell. It is inconceivable that someone here on business could be gunned down by a stranger as they walked through a parking lot for dinner.”

Police determined that Mitchell had been shot in the abdomen by an unknown man driving a blue Mustang. Witnesses stated that the Mustang left the parking lot heading south on I-55. 

Ridgeland police later received information from Jackson Police that they were working multiple crime scenes involving a man driving a blue Mustang. 

After a joint investigation, it was determined James had shot and killed Hogan at the gas station, shot at a JATRAN bus, shot into a house in Jackson and shot and killed Mitchell all within an hour and a half. 

“A special thanks goes out to the many officers with both the Ridgeland and Jackson police departments that worked together in order to quickly capture this violent criminal,” Bramlett said.

“I also want to thank my investigators at the DA’s Office for the countless hours they spent helping to bring this case to trial. None of this would be possible without the work of law enforcement. We hope this verdict brings some sort of closure to Mrs. Mitchell’s family.” 

Mitchell worked at the Excelsior Springs, Missouri, Job Corps Center and was in Mississippi attending a conference.

She was walking with colleagues from their hotel to the steakhouse when she was shot. She was able to describe her attacker to police before dying in surgery at a Jackson hospital.

James was located shortly afterward at his mother’s apartment in Jackson. Authorities also located the blue Mustang as well as the gun that was used in both murders. 

James went to trial in Madison County last week asserting an insanity defense. Multiple forensic psychiatrists evaluated him over an extended period of time and testified at trial that he was not insane at the time of the murder. After deliberation, the jury unanimously found him guilty of murdering Mitchell. 

“Why Zebulum James found it necessary to take this innocent woman’s life we will never know,” Bramlett said. “But, what we do know is that he was not crazy. He was not insane. He is a murderer, and he will now spend the rest of his life in prison as a result of that.”

Matthew Mitchell told the Star his mother was always smiling and laughing and making people feel like they were the center of the universe.

“She was a mom and a grandma,” Mitchell said in 2015 outside of the family home. “Two kids and four grandkids.”

Mitchell told the Star his mother’s smile and laugh were unmistakable and hers alone.

“She would command a room,” he said. “She was always smiling and laughing and making people feel like they were the center of the universe.”






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