A Kosciusko man accused of capital murder in the shooting death of a Starkville optometrist is being held without bond in the Oktibbeha County Jail until his next scheduled court date.
The Starkville Police Department said 41-year-old William Thomas “Tommy” Chisholm will have his initial appearance in Starkville Municipal Court on Wednesday at 2 p.m.
SPD Public Information Officer Brandon Lovelady confirmed to the Starkville Daily News that in addition to the capital murder charge, Chisholm is also facing charges of burglary and misdemeanor malicious mischief.
The misdemeanor charge came after Chisholm allegedly did damage to a police vehicle following his arrest on Saturday.
Chisholm is accused of following his “on-again, off-again” girlfriend Dr. Shauna Witt into the Walmart Supercenter on Highway 12, where she worked as an optometrist in the eye center.
Officers on Saturday morning 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.
Witt had suffered two gunshot wounds and was transported to OCH Regional Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead shortly after 10 a.m.
Chisholm was originally scheduled to have his initial appearance in Starkville Municipal Court on Sunday, but the appearance was cancelled in favor of a bond hearing being held behind closed doors in the Oktibbeha County Jail.
SPD believes the situation to be isolated and domestic in nature.
While little has been provided regarding Chisholm’s criminal history or mental state, it has been confirmed he was out on a felony bond at the time of the shooting for a previous incident involving the victim in Kosciusko.
In April 2012, Chisholm barricaded himself in his Gluckstadt home in Madison County and threatened to hurt himself and others.
Following that incident, Chisholm was peacefully taken to a hospital for evaluation concerning his mental health and it is unclear if any charges were filed against him.
According to the suspect’s Facebook page, Chisholm most recently worked as an RN charge nurse at Monfort Jones Memorial Hospital in Kosciusko. It is not known if he was still employed at the hospital at the time of the shooting.