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January 12, 2012
Gov. Barbour frees man convicted in death of local woman
By Jeremy Pittari, Item Staff Writer
The Picayune Item
PICAYUNE — A local official is outraged at former Gov. Haley Barbour’s last act as governor, which was to release a man who pleaded guilty to charges in the death of a local woman.
On Tuesday, a list of about 200 people who were released from prison at Barbour’s order was released. That list included the name of Azikiwe Kambule, who pleaded guilty to charges of armed carjacking and accessory after a murder in the 1996 kidnapping and murder of 31-year-old Pamela McGill.
Kambule’s release has sparked anger from Pearl River County Board of Supervisor’s member Anthony Hales who knew McGill and her family well. Hales said McGill was a Poplarville native. McGill graduated from Poplarville High School before attending Pearl River Community College and then graduating from William Carey College.
“When it hits close to home, it really hits home,” Hales said.
Hales said he can remember how McGill’s death affected and galvanized the entire Poplarville community, especially in the weeks between her disappearance and the discovery of her body. While Hales understands there are people in jail who may not have committed a crime, people who are a menace to society should not be released, even if they claim to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“What would have been the right place and right time for this not to happen to (McGill)?” Hales said. “She don’t have any more options.”
McGill’s father, the Rev. James McGill, declined to comment on Kambule’s pardon.
According to stories that ran in the Picayune Item following her death, McGill had been working in Jackson for almost ten years with the Department of Human Services before Kambule and an accomplice, Santonia Berry, followed her to her home on Jan. 25, 1996. McGill was kidnapped at gunpoint as she was checking her mail and forced back to her vehicle and later murdered along a wooded road. The motive in the crime was said to be to take the 1993 Dodge Stealth she was driving at the time.
Both Kambule and Berry were later arrested on kidnapping and vehicle theft charges. Two other suspects also were arrested on accessory after the fact charges.
McGill’s remains were not found until April 3, 1996, nine weeks after her murder, in a wooded area.
Berry, the admitted triggerman, pleaded guilty to the capital murder of McGill and received a life sentence, which was not reported to have been revoked in Barbour’s recent action. Kambule pleaded guilty to armed car jacking and accessory after a murder, and received 35 years for both charges. According to an Associated Press story, Kambule’s defense attorneys stated during the trial that Kambule, who was a teenager at the time of the crime, was never positively identified as the one who pulled the trigger, and knew little of the American justice system since he was originally from South Africa. Kambule had lived in Mississippi for only two years prior to the crime. Barbour granted Kambule a full pardon.
January 12, 2012
Gov. Barbour frees man convicted in death of local woman
By Jeremy Pittari, Item Staff Writer
The Picayune Item
PICAYUNE — A local official is outraged at former Gov. Haley Barbour’s last act as governor, which was to release a man who pleaded guilty to charges in the death of a local woman.
On Tuesday, a list of about 200 people who were released from prison at Barbour’s order was released. That list included the name of Azikiwe Kambule, who pleaded guilty to charges of armed carjacking and accessory after a murder in the 1996 kidnapping and murder of 31-year-old Pamela McGill.
Kambule’s release has sparked anger from Pearl River County Board of Supervisor’s member Anthony Hales who knew McGill and her family well. Hales said McGill was a Poplarville native. McGill graduated from Poplarville High School before attending Pearl River Community College and then graduating from William Carey College.
“When it hits close to home, it really hits home,” Hales said.
Hales said he can remember how McGill’s death affected and galvanized the entire Poplarville community, especially in the weeks between her disappearance and the discovery of her body. While Hales understands there are people in jail who may not have committed a crime, people who are a menace to society should not be released, even if they claim to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“What would have been the right place and right time for this not to happen to (McGill)?” Hales said. “She don’t have any more options.”
McGill’s father, the Rev. James McGill, declined to comment on Kambule’s pardon.
According to stories that ran in the Picayune Item following her death, McGill had been working in Jackson for almost ten years with the Department of Human Services before Kambule and an accomplice, Santonia Berry, followed her to her home on Jan. 25, 1996. McGill was kidnapped at gunpoint as she was checking her mail and forced back to her vehicle and later murdered along a wooded road. The motive in the crime was said to be to take the 1993 Dodge Stealth she was driving at the time.
Both Kambule and Berry were later arrested on kidnapping and vehicle theft charges. Two other suspects also were arrested on accessory after the fact charges.
McGill’s remains were not found until April 3, 1996, nine weeks after her murder, in a wooded area.
Berry, the admitted triggerman, pleaded guilty to the capital murder of McGill and received a life sentence, which was not reported to have been revoked in Barbour’s recent action. Kambule pleaded guilty to armed car jacking and accessory after a murder, and received 35 years for both charges. According to an Associated Press story, Kambule’s defense attorneys stated during the trial that Kambule, who was a teenager at the time of the crime, was never positively identified as the one who pulled the trigger, and knew little of the American justice system since he was originally from South Africa. Kambule had lived in Mississippi for only two years prior to the crime. Barbour granted Kambule a full pardon.
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