Man who shot deputy pleads guilty, gets 210 years
Edgar James Egbert of Canton pleaded guilty Thursday to six counts of attempted murder in relation to the shooting of two Madison County deputies in 2019.
Egbert entered the guilty pleas in a trial that began at 10 a.m. Thursday in Madison County Circuit Court in front of Judge John Emfinger and a courtroom packed with local and state law enforcement, including one of Egbert’s victims, Deputy Brad Sullivan, who has been in a wheelchair since he was shot on Sept. 5, 2019.
Emfinger handed down a sentence of 35 years per count to be served consecutively for a total of 210 years. Emfinger said the events of Sept. 5, 2019, “cannot be undone” and that “no penalty is sufficient” for the crimes Egbert committed.
The charges stem from a Sept. 5, 2019 incident that began in northwestern Madison County and ended in Canton.
Egbert is accused of abducting a man and tying him up inside Egbert’s home. An ensuing chase led to two officers being wounded by gun fire seriously injuring Sullivan.
Sullivan addressed the court recounting the events of the day and the struggles of his recovery. He said that Egbert had taken “the coward's way out” in dealing with issues in his life and that his own life will never be the same. He said that he did not think Egbert could be handed a sentence he would believe was strong enough.
After the trial, Madison and Rankin Counties’ District Attorney Bubba Bramlett said that they were happy with the sentence. Bramlett said that the sentence on the six counts was enough for them to know that Egbert would never live another day outside of a prison cell.
Egbert originally faced eight charges. Bramlett said they had decided not to pursue a kidnapping charge and a felony fleeing charge any further. He said they received Egbert’s competency report on Monday and knew he would be ruled competent to stand trial.
“At this time things started happening real quick,” Bramlett said.
He said the defense noted that Egbert would plead guilty to the attempted murder charges. Bramlett said they did not pursue the kidnapping charge any further because the victim had died of unrelated causes and had no immediate family. He said the felony fleeing charge was not pursued because it would not have had a significant effect on the sentencing.
Bramlett said this case had been an “all hands on deck” case for his office.
Sullivan was wounded at approximately 7:15 a.m. Sept. 5, 2019, after Egbert crashed his vehicle into a ditch in a chase that ended near the Canton Country Club on Mississippi 16 east. Egbert then exited the vehicle and started shooting.
Other law enforcement officers involved in the pursuit returned fire, hitting the suspect before taking him into custody.
Sullivan was airlifted to UMMC. Another deputy was treated and released.
The investigation was turned over to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation by Madison County District Attorney Bramlett.