Missing or Murdered? The Jerry Lee Armstrong Story

PLEASE NOTE: This site does not condone violence of any kind, and Johnnie Armstrong wants to see the killers of his brother in a court of law and wants his brother's body returned to the family for a proper burial. This is Jerry's story as told to me by his brother Johnnie.

Click here to see Jerry's photo's and other information.  http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/a/armstrong_jerry.html

On December 23, 1977 around 7 PM Jerry Lee Armstrong rushed home from his job at a service station in Coldwater Mississippi where he worked pumping gas and fixing tires.

Tonight was the night of the Christmas Dance, and he was bursting with excitement when he got home. He took a shower, put on a green suit with a yellow shirt, and sat down to eat with his family.

He had been dating 18 year old Angela Cole for roughly 2 years, and the dance at the National Guard Armory in Hernando Mississippi would make for a night to remember.

"Can I borrow your car?" Jerry ask my brother James, who was a year older, as we sat around the table."

 "It was a white 1973 Pontiac LeMans, 2 door with red and black stripes on each side, and James had only owned the car about 3 or 4 months."

"Jerry was about 3 years older than me, says his brother Johnnie Armstrong. He was a really good guy; He was an honor student, a football star, and all he did besides that was work, go to Vo-Tech, and go to see his girlfriend, Angela.  He never started trouble and got along with everybody, both white and black. He was a quarter back in high school football, and some of the white guys didn’t like it, but he got along with them so it wasn't a problem.

Never the type to argue with anyone, Jerry would just walk away if someone got smart with him. Even though he was still in school, he took care of mama and daddy, and worked to help them pay the bills. So when he ask to borrow James's car, there was no hesitation on James's part, because he knew Jerry would be responsible with it."

"According to people who saw him at the dance, Jerry and Angela made it to the dance together and left together. It looked like they had a good time and there were no fights between them or anyone else."

"After they left the dance, Jerry and Angela stopped in Hernando and ask to borrow a gun from Tony Miller. Jerry had an older brother named McKinley, and Tony Miller was his girlfriend's brother. Jerry said some white people had been following him and trying to kill him with his girlfriend in the car."

"Tony Miller, tried to give Jerry a gun, twice, but Jerry changed his mind and would not take it. Tony told him, "I’m going to follow you to a dark corner and make sure you are OK." Jerry said, "No, I'm fine", and headed North to East Hernando (almost to Olive Branch) to Angela's house."

After he took her home, he was never seen or heard from again. The white 1973 Pontiac LeMans, 2 door with red and black stripes, license number; DAY 458, has also never been recovered.

There are varying stories as to whether Angela was with him or not, but according to Johnnie, Jerry's brother, she seems afraid to talk about it. Maybe with good reason.

"When we tried to report him missing, the sheriff at the time said we had to wait 72 hours, but after the 72 hours was up they still would not investigate."

"The reason they would not investigate might be because they were the ones that did it", says Johnnie.

Anthony Hillard, one of Jerry's friends, told Johnnie 3 or 4 patrol cars had pulled Jerry over to the side of the road where it was dark, got him out of the car, and put him in the sheriff's Deputy's car.  

"It was all planned ahead of time, but the problem was they got the wrong guy. Their real target was Jerry's best friend, Johnny Cross."

 "Johnny Cross drove a white 2 door LTD, and with the cars being similar they thought they had Johnny. Johnny had been dating a white girl named Bonnie Scott. After Jerry was killed, Johnny left town and it was 7 or 8 years before he returned because they told him they would get him next. He still don’t want to talk about it."

According to Johnnie Armstrong, Jerry's brother, when the FBI, and Allen Thompson, with the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation,reopened the case in 2000 and 2007 they told him it was a hate crime and the whole murder was planned out.

"Many of my brother's case files are missing, but the FBI says the sheriff's deputies killed him and took his body and his car and buried it in a gravel pit at the corner of College Road, and Bethel Road in Olive Branch."

"The MBI searched the pit, there is still machinery there, but houses are built on top of the pit now so they probably were not able to do a full search", says Johnnie.

"Some of those people are kin to the former sheriff, so I don’t go talk to them, he will have you killed. They say he is the one who dug the grave, but nobody in this county will talk on him. The FBI tried to get him for drugs, said he is the most dangerous guy in DeSota county, but everyone is afraid of him.  

"Everyone gonna talk on him when he die."  

"I heard they dug the car up and took it to Martin Brothers in Sardis and had it junked."

"My mom lived 10 years after Jerry's death, but died in June of 1987. She lost so much weight worrying, the worry just took her down. Dad is still living and he is 83, and the ones who killed Jerry will have to answer to God one day, but it would bring our family much peace, If we could find his body and give him a decent burial."

"I really believe the sheriff deputies killed him, because in 1982 mamma had sent me to town , and I was young and going to get me a drink. When I started down 51 highway, Warren Looney tried to pull me over and I out run him and he shot at me. He told my dad, “We just killed one of your sons and you almost had another one dead."

"I tried to get them to do something, but back then black folks were kind of scared, I was told I could not come to town, he said, “You come to town n*****I’m gonna kill you.  I heard he died of a heart attack."

"We were getting all kinds of threatening phone calls. One time a white man called my dad and said, "Meet me at the corner of Glade and Ranch road, I’m gonna kill you tonight n****r." My dad drove there but the man never showed up."

"I can look at Angela and tell she knows what happened, but she won’t tell, maybe out of fear or maybe she is protecting someone.  

You can tell she is holding something in her heart.  One 4th July I went out there to talk to her and her mom and dad told me to leave.  As I was leaving, I met two county deputies; they pulled me over and told me", "You don't want the same thing to happen to you that happened to your brother so don’t’ come out here no more."

Johnnie believes his brother James was also killed by police, but it was ruled a suicide.

If you have any information on this case please contact; Johnnie Armstrong at: 901-826-7162

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigations at 662-934-3029

The Desoto County Sheriff's Department at 662-429-1470