In the late hours of a December night in 2021, a tragic and violent encounter unfolded on Shirley Drive, east of Columbus, Mississippi, forever altering a local family. Larry Wayne Peeks Jr., a 45-year-old White/Caucasian male, was fatally shot on December 3, 2021. Lowndes County sheriff's deputies responded to a call of shots fired and discovered Peeks Jr. lying in the street.
He was pronounced dead at the scene by the coroner.
The investigation into the shooting quickly led to the arrest of a suspect who was still at the scene: Larry's own son, 21-year-old Bradley Wayne Peeks. A 9-millimeter handgun was recovered as evidence. Bradley Peeks was taken into custody without incident and was initially charged with the murder of his father. He was held in the Lowndes County Adult Detention Center, and his bond was later set at $250,000.
As the legal process moved forward, the case took a significant turn. A Lowndes County grand jury reviewed the evidence and chose to indict Bradley Peeks on a lesser charge of manslaughter, rather than the original charge of murder. This indicated that the circumstances surrounding the shooting were complex and that a claim of self-defense would be central to the case. The trial commenced in February 2025, setting the stage for a jury to decide the young man's fate.
During the trial, Bradley Peeks took the stand in his own defense, testifying that he was in his vehicle when his father approached him in a threatening manner. His defense attorney argued that Bradley was acting to protect himself, his mother, and his cousin, who was also in the car at the time. The defense asserted that Larry Peeks Jr. had pushed his wife aside as she tried to intervene. The prosecution countered that Bradley's use of deadly force was not reasonable and that other options were available to him. Ultimately, the jury was persuaded by the self-defense argument, which was bolstered by the Castle Doctrine, a legal principle that allows for the use of force to defend oneself in one's vehicle. After hearing the testimony, the jury acquitted Bradley Wayne Peeks of the manslaughter charge, concluding that he had a legal right to defend himself in a situation that ended in his father's death.
