Mississippi man sentenced to life for killing of friend

BROOKHAVEN, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi man has been sentenced to life in prison after a jury convicted him of murder in the 2018 shooting death of a man who was his friend.

The Daily Leader reported that Jesse Scott Smith was convicted Wednesday, after a two-day trial in Walthall County. A sentencing order filed Thursday shows that Circuit Judge David Strong also ordered Smith to pay a $10,000 fine and $7,500 for funeral expenses.

The body of John Ashley Bennett was found April 21, 2018, at his Brookhaven home by his mother. He was 42. Brookhaven Police Chief Kenneth Collins said at the time that Bennett received gunshot wounds that “looked suspicious.”

Smith, who was 40 at the time of the shooting, was arrested the next day and charged with murder.

Bennett’s father, Leon Bennett Jr., said Smith was one of his son’s friends and that he had seen Smith with his son the night before his son’s body was found. Speaking to the Daily Leader in 2018, Leon Bennett Jr. described his son as “a sweet kid.”

“He had no ill will against anybody,” he said of his son, who had worked as a chef. “He had a really kind heart and loved people. He did not have a mean bone in his body.”

John Ashley Bennett was killed in Lincoln County. Smith’s trial was moved to Walthall County, which is also in south Mississippi.