This is part 1 of a series The Enterprise-Tocsin is doing to examine what elements contribute to prolonged criminal cases in Sunflower County and a look at the impact on victims’ families. If you would like to share your experience with delayed justice please call 662-887-2222 or email graphics@enterprise-tocsin.com.
A sister is seeking justice eight years after finding her 33-year-old brother, Christopher Burnett, shot and killed in his home in Drew on Valentine’s Day.
“They took my little brother for nothing, all for nothing,” Chiquita Burnett-Thomas told The E-T. “He didn’t do anything to nobody and would have given you his last.”
Burnett, a brother, and father, was a barber in the community and spent a lot of time perfecting his craft.
“Usually, from sunup to sundown, you could find him cutting hair,” Burnett-Thomas said. “It was something he loved to do.”
A day meant to celebrate love and affection would be the beginning of a prolonged murder investigation. Burnett’s sister still vividly remembers how the day unfolded.
She began receiving phone calls from his friends and customers about Burnett’s whereabouts earlier that day but didn’t become worried until later when the calls came in more frequently. After receiving no answer when she tried calling, Burnett-Thomas went to her brother’s house around 10 p.m. that night. When she arrived, she knew something was strange.
“When I got to my brother’s house, I felt it,” Burnett-Thomas said. “Something was wrong, and that’s when I decided to take a closer look through the window. As soon as I removed the air conditioner from the kitchen window, there he lay on the kitchen floor.”
Autopsy reports showed that Burnett was shot twice in the head.
Initially, authorities didn’t have any leads in the case.
“I mean, it wasn’t any clues or anything, so we’ve just gone through a long process,” Sheriff James Haywood said.
The two initial officers that were involved with the investigation are no longer with the department. Haywood said there was some evidence from a long time ago that was not accounted for regarding this case.
Months after Burnett was found, they had four suspects. Witnesses eventually came forward to help the police, but Burnett-Thomas is still seeking closure and justice.
“Court has been postponed a million times,” Burnett-Thomas said. “Right now, it’s pretty much at a standstill. Nobody is in jail.”
Prolonged cases are all too familiar to Haywood.
“It has to come to an end,” Haywood said. “It’s just that cases in Sunflower County go a long time sometimes.”
Haywood knows the risk of time passing during cases.
“The longer you draw something out the more witnesses you lose over time in Sunflower County,” said Haywood.
The long-time sheriff mentioned elements that cause a prolonged criminal case in Sunflower County such as mental evaluations and crime lab backup.
Haywood said that there are two suspects out on bond for the murder of Burnett and another suspect is incarcerated for a different crime.
“As of today, still no answers. I never thought I would be putting my little brother in a casket,” Burnett-Thomas said. “We just want justice for him. That’s it.”
Christopher Burnett’s death has had an overwhelming effect on his family. Burnett was the youngest of his three siblings and his mother’s only son. He was also the father of eight children.
“We just want justice for my brother,” Thomas-Burnett said. “To this day, my mom still grieves real hard because we don't have the answers. All we can say is he is dead. We don't know who did it nor why they did it. He is just dead.”
Chiquita Burnett-Thomas is still searching for answers surrounding her brother’s case.
The Burnett family would like anyone with additional information regarding Christopher “Zeke” Burnett to call the Sunflower County Sheriff's Department or reach out to a member of the family.
