Man pleads guilty to killing Mississippi officers; gets life

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS and ROGELIO V. SOLIS
Associated Press

BROOKHAVEN, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi man has pleaded guilty to the 2018 shooting deaths of two police officers. A judge gave Marquis Aaron Flowers two life prison sentences Wednesday after Flowers pleaded guilty earlier in the day to two counts of first-degree murder. Jury selection was to have begun next week in his trial. By pleading guilty, Flowers avoided the possibility of the death penalty. Brookhaven Police Department Cpl. Zach Moak and patrol officer James White were shot on Sept. 29, 2018, while responding to a call about shots being fired at a home. Flowers asked the officers’ families for their forgiveness during the court proceeding Wednesday.