While the sun shined, and brightly so in the City of Greenville on Wednesday, grief-filled clouds hung low about the steps of City Hall in the wake of Detective Myiesha Stewart’s death.
A press conference was held Wednesday regarding the death of Stewart.
Stewart — a mother, daughter, friend and officer — was shot and killed in the line of duty Tuesday night while responding to a call near Reed and Rebecca streets.
According to a press release from Mayor Errick Simmons, several other people were injured by gunshots.
“Department of Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell has been notified and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation will conduct a thorough investigation into this matter,” the press release stated.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation said the suspect is being treated and is in the custody of law enforcement. They have not identified the suspect or specified their injuries.
No additional threats have been verified and the threat that existed Tuesday night is “under control.”
The mother, father and 3-year-old son of Stewart joined Simmons, along with Chief Marcus Turner Sr., Washington County Sheriff Milton Gaston and several other law enforcement officers as he addressed those in attendance.
“It is difficult to find words at a time like this. It is definitely a sad day for Greenville, it’s a sad day for the Mississippi Delta, it’s a sad day for the state of Mississippi when an officer pays the ultimate sacrifice in losing her life in the line of duty,” Simmons began. “Today, we feel the hurt of a three-year-old son left without a mother. We feel the hurt of a mother and a father who have lost a daughter. We feel the hurt of a police department that has lost an officer.”
Simmons, holding back tears, continued, “The family is hurt. Our community is hurt. No one understands this more than the brave men and women standing here on the steps beside me, the brave men and women who wake up every single day of their lives to protect and serve this community.”
He highlighted Stewart’s willingness to be one of the men and women who run to the danger when others run away and the heart and courage she exhibited by putting fear aside to help others.
“In her final act she leaves a legacy of duty, honor, strength, courage and service. An officer who, not so long ago, left the academy and moved quickly up the ranks to become an investigator with the Greenville Police Department,” Simmons pointed out. “To know investigator Stewart was to respect her, respect her work and to love her as a person. In the midst of this tragedy, and true to her legacy, we rise in the face of adversity.”
Since the tragic incident, law enforcement, public safety personnel, community members, faith-based leaders and many others have banded together to see to the physical and emotional needs of officers.
Spiritual counseling and grief sessions were held Tuesday morning at the Washington County Convention Center for law enforcement officers and first responders
“Our first responders need prayers, grief counseling, and spiritual advice as a result of our tragic loss,” Simmons stated.
Counselors, pastors, and religious leaders were on hand to comfort and provide services to first responders.
“This is who we are — one Greenville. Our greatest strength in Greenville is our ability to come together to lend helping hands to each other at a time in need such as this. That is what we do, that is who we are,” Simmons added.
Tributes, condolences and heart-felt sentiments have poured in from around local, state and federal entities as well as those personal and social.
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves shared his condolences on Facebook.
“I am truly saddened by the tragic loss of Detective Stewart. Please join me in prayer for her family, her friends, and the entire Greenville Police Department. Her bravery and selfless service to her community will be remembered. We are safer because of the tireless commitment of her and police officers around the state to keeping our families safe,” his post stated.
The Greenville Fire Department also shared their sentiments on Facebook.
“We are one family and when one hurt, we all hurt. Investigator Stewart was a brilliant and sharp young woman who gave her all to the job she loved. She will be sorely missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family during this difficult and challenging time. May your treasured memories be forever held in your heart,” the post stated.
According to an article in the Delta Democrat-Times, Stewart in April 2011 signed a basketball scholarship contract with Mississippi Delta Community College. She was the first female from O’Bannon High School to sign a basketball scholarship in 26 years, when Patricia Hoskins signed with Mississippi Valley State University in 1985.
Stewart was also a member of the 2013-14 Lady Statesmen basketball team at Delta State University.
Stewart led the Lady Waves to a 22-4 record her senior year, averaging 13.7 points and 13 rebounds per game.
The Lady Waves coach back then was Lindsey Rucker, whose memories of Stewart are as vivid as one would hope them to be.
“She was cocky and flamboyant,” Rucker said, laughing. “I remember when she first started taking my class. She said, ‘I don’t know who the girls basketball coach is, but he or she is going to love me.’”
Rucker said he asked Stewart why she made such an assertion. He recalled her response was, “Because I can play some basketball.”
Unbeknownst to Stewart at the time, Rucker was the girls basketball coach for junior high and varsity.
“So the first day when practice starts, she comes through the gym door and she asks the girls, ‘Who is the basketball coach?’ I was at the far end of the court and they pointed down there to me and I looked down there and I said, ‘Oh I’m going to love you,’” he said, letting out a chuckle.
Stewart’s play on the court seemed just as noticeable as her personality.
According to Rucker, she played every position and her competitiveness was unmatched.
“She was versatile. She wanted to learn them all, so I taught her all of them and the biggest thing about Myiesha was she was going to work hard at whatever you gave her to do,” he highlighted. “She was going to work hard and she might question a few things if it really didn’t fit for her, but once you explained it, she was determined to get it.”
Rucker also highlighted how highly other coaches throughout the ranks spoke of Stewart and those of opponents whenever they traveled for a game.
“She was a heck of a first baseman too,” he noted of her as a softball player.
Rucker remembered telling Stewart that if she played the game of basketball and gave it her all, it would hurt on the inside to lose.
“So in Myiesha’s last game, we were playing a playoff game, it was her senior year and she’d given it her all. The game was over and she started crying, so I turned to her and asked, `What are you crying for? We just came up short a little bit,’” he shared.
Her response, according to Rucker was, “Because you said if you give it your all and you leave it all on the floor, if you lose it should hurt you.”
With that, Rucker told Stewart to go ahead and cry.
She loved the game and she loved her teammates.
As Rucker described, that love would sometimes be in the form of motivation.
Even when she tore her ACL during her junior year, Rucker recalled how she would sit on the sidelines fussing and instructing her teammates to “do it right or get off the floor” because the days of losing were over.
“She didn’t care if they were a freshman, a seventh grader or a senior; she pushed them all hard,” he said. “She didn’t play favorites, but she loved them as much as I did or even more and that’s just her.”
