District attorney reacts to dropped charges against former CPD officer

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – District Attorney Scott Colom reacted to the news that manslaughter charges against former Columbus police officer Canyon Boykin would be dropped.

Boykin was charged in the 2015 shooting death of Ricky Ball. WCBI confirmed Thursday that the attorney general’s office planned to drop those charges.

During a press conference Friday morning, Colom said he planned to request the information from the AG’s office that led to the decision to drop the charges.

He said he would then post whatever information he legally can to his website, adding it would be a step toward transparency.

“To drop the case at this time, the timing is so bad. I had someone call and tell me it feels like I got punched in the stomach and I understand that because it’s a very difficult time for a lot of people, a lot of people are hurting or worried, they have anxiety. And to do it like the way it’s done, I think if you’re going to dismiss the case, I think you need to do more than a two-paragraph press release. You need to have a hearing, put the evidence out there and let the people see for themselves what the reason why the case was dismissed because there was an indictment. So, I think it could’ve been handled so much better than what I’ve done a better job of continuing to keep trust in the community. Because that’s what it’s really about, having trust in the criminal justice system,” said Colom.

Boykin was indicted on a manslaughter charge in 2016 in the October 2015 death of Ricky Ball.

Boykin was fired from CPD shortly after the shooting and later sued the city. A settlement was reached in the lawsuit.