Fifteenth Circuit Court District Attorney Hal Kittrell announced that on Feb. 14, Timothy Dewayne Taylor, 42, of Prentiss, was found guilty by a Jefferson Davis County jury. Taylor was found guilty of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for an incident that happened in March 2015.

Law enforcement officers responded to reports of gunfire on March 25, 2015, at the Meadow Hills Apartments in Prentiss. Elvadus Rhodes was found shot in the back and was carried to Jefferson Davis Community Hospital for his injuries. Taylor was immediately a suspect and was apprehended a short time later.

Taylor represented himself in the one-day trial last week.

Taylor was sentenced shortly after the jury returned the verdict at the Jefferson Davis County Courthouse by Circuit Court Judge Prentiss Harrell to serve 20 years in the Mississippi Department of Corrections.

“I would like to thank the Jefferson Davis County jury for this just verdict,” said Kittrell. “We were able to take a violent individual off the streets and show that there are severe consequences for those who do harm to others in Jefferson Davis County. We appreciate the investigation on this case by the Jefferson Davis County Sheriff’s Department.”

Taylor was already serving a 26-year sentence for the attempted murder of Jefferson Davis County Deputy Pat Barnes. Barnes was shot in the leg during an altercation with Taylor on Duckworth Lane in May 2019. Taylor was also charged with possession of methamphetamine and possession of cocaine during the incident.