Unholy Homicide, Part One
Crime of Passion
After the stabbing, Hicks ran out to his car and grabbed a 22-caliber pistol. However, when he returned to the apartment, he was unable to enter, so he fired four shots into the front door in an attempt to get back inside. When that failed, Hicks kicked out a downstairs window and attempted to fire at Wills, but his gun jammed. The two men ended up in a fight in the window. Wills managed to keep Hicks out, but both men suffered injuries from the broken glass. Following the scuffle, Hicks ran back to his car and sped off.
Once back at home, Hicks phoned Rev. Roy Goldsmith, a family friend, and associate pastor at the church. According to later police interviews with Goldsmith, Hicks told him he'd stabbed his wife. Goldsmith then went to the pastor's home and found him injured and bleeding and attempting to reload the .22-caliber pistol.
The Mississippi Press reported that Amos Hicks was arrested a short time later at the Singing River Hospital emergency room, where he was being treated for a cut on his head received during the altercation. Hicks was charged with capital murder. On Dec. 2, 2004, City Court Judge Michael Fondren deemed there was enough evidence against Hicks to bind him over to a grand jury. Amos Hicks currently awaits trial while behind bars in the Pascagoula City jail.
"This wasn't like him," the Rev. Roy Goldsmith told a Sun Herald reporter on December 2, 2004. "It's the devil's belief that if he attacks the head, he will get the body ... now, our church, our community and the entire church of Christianity has been attacked by the devil. We don't know exactly what happened, but we are here to support our pastor..."
Attorney George Shaddock is representing Hicks in his defense and told reporters he believes his client should face a lesser charge. "I just think it was a crime of passion," Shaddock said. "I think it's a manslaughter case."