Walmart murder suspect’s court appearance rescheduled

The next municipal court date has been rescheduled for a Kosciusko man charged with capital murder in the shooting death of a Starkville optometrist.

Tommy Chisholm’s second Municipal Court date, which was scheduled for Monday, Jan. 22, was moved to a date not yet determined.

Starkville attorney Mark Williamson told Municipal Court Judge Rodney Faver he would like to speak with Chisholm to decide what the next steps will be. Williamson declined to comment on the case at this time. During Chisholm’s initial appearance in Starkville Municipal Court on Thursday, Jan. 18, City Prosecutor Caroline Moore read an additional charge of aggravated assault, which was added to his case.

Moore said a bullet shot from Chisholm’s 9 mm pistol went through the jacket of another woman in the store. Faver set the bond for aggravated assault at $100,000. Aggravated assault carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.

Chisholm, 41, is charged with capital murder after investigators and witnesses claim he followed his “on-again, off-again” girlfriend Dr. Shauna Witt into the Walmart Supercenter on Highway 12, where he shot her twice.

Shortly after the shooting, Witt died from her wounds at OCH Regional Medical Center in Starkville. Witt was currently working at her optometry practice located in the front of the store at the time of the shooting.

Officers on Jan. 13 responded to a call of shots fired at the Walmart and when they arrived around 9:30 a.m., they encountered Chisholm, who was armed with a handgun. After a brief struggle, SPD officers detained Chisholm and took him into custody.