New Audio: Sheriff Danny Rigel Said Andrew David Cook Charges Should Be Upgraded to Attempted Murder
- Hattiesburg News Staff
- Nov 20
- 2 min read
"It sure could be attempted murder"- Sheriff Danny Rigel
HATTIESBURG, Miss (THN News) - Yes, there are audio recordings of Lamar County Sheriff. In this first recording, Sheriff Danny Rigel told Donivan Barnes family that the charges should be upgraded to Capital Murder.
The sheriff, sounding very confident and assured, went into detail explaining to Donvian's family suspect Andrew David Cook should be charged at least charged with Attempted Murder and possibly Capital Murder.
The Sheriff is right as we seen prior to Andrew David Cook killing Donivan, on April 29, 2023, David Breland was also charged with a hit and run in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
But when the suspect died, he was upgraded to murder. His case had far less evidence than Donivan's case. David is now serving life in prison.
Unfortunately, 2 years later given the opportunity to upgrade the charges himself after major community outrage, the sheriff said he reviewed the case and changed his mind and declined to charge the suspect or his mother for killing Donivan Barnes, despite undisputable evidence including Donivan's blood on the truck and their confession.
How exactly did the Lamar County Sheriff's office went from charging suspect Andrew David Cook with attempted murder to working with the Lamar County District Attorney's Office to drop all charges is "mind boggling" according to legal experts following the case.