Yazoo principal indicted in case accusing a police chief of child abuse

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A Yazoo County school principal has been indicted in a case involving a chief of police accused of child abuse.

A grand jury indicted Tchula Police Chief Daniel Carter Jr. for felony child abuse and Yazoo County High School Principal Phillip Turner for accessory after the fact.

The charges stem from an incident where Carter, who also worked a school resource officer, allegedly pushed a student into a girl’s bathroom and choked him in August 2019. Carter accused the student of attacking him, and the teenager was initially taken into custody.

Authorities have reason to believe Carter made up his story to cover his actions, the Clarion Ledger reports. The school did not take action against the student. Instead, the school district fired Carter, and he was suspended without pay from his job as police chief, pending the outcome of the case.

A female student and teachers witnessed the incident, according to Yazoo County District Attorney Akillie Malone-Oliver.

Principal Turner is accused of concealing or aiding Carter. He has filed a motion to have Malone-Oliver removed from the case, saying the DA’s actions are a “personal vendetta” against him because of disciplinary issues with her son.

Malone-Oliver countered, saying Turner’s allegations “reek with desperation” and have no basis in fact relating to the case. Nonetheless, the response outlines an incident where Turner put “his hand around the neck of a District Attorney Oliver’s minor child” and pinned “the Minor against the wall,” and another where Turner rescinded her child’s suspension after Malone-Turner complained to the school superintendent.

It is not clear if Turner was taken into custody.