Former Mississippi House Speaker Billy McCoy dies at 77

LEE COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI)- Former Mississippi House Speaker Billy McCoy has died at age 77.

Representative Steve Holland of Plantersville says McCoy died Tuesday at North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo, where he had been hospitalized for about two weeks.

McCoy was a Democrat from Rienzi.

The farmer and former teacher was first elected to the state House in 1979 and served 28 years.

He was speaker of the 122-member chamber from January 2004 until January 2012.

McCoy previously served as chairman of both the Education Committee and the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee.

He chose not to seek reelection to the House in 2011, and Republicans won a supermajority in the chamber that year.