Prosecutors To Seek Death Penalty In Capital Murder Case

TUPELO, MISS. (WCBI) – A Tupelo woman could face the death penalty in a murder case.

Forty six year old Leah Bishop is charged with the murder of 65 year old Jessie Traylor last May.

Bishop is accused of killing Traylor at his South Tupelo home, then taking his car and driving to Winnsboro, Louisiana, where she was stopped at a roadblock and arrested for having a suspended drivers license.

Louisiana authorities discovered Bishop was wanted for Traylor’s murder, and she was returned to Tupelo where she has been jailed since.

Bishop’s court appointed attorney says a lot of work is ahead.

“I have to see the discovery, which is the state’s evidence against Ms Bishop , and also I will be filing a motion asking for the office of capital defense out of Jackson to be associated on this case, all capital cases receive two attorneys,” Basham said.

Sources say the brutality of the crime warrants the death penalty. Bond was denied for Bishop.  Authorities say Bishop made her way to Jones County after the murder, leaving a handwritten confession in the Laurel area.