The Monfees own a home located near the banks of Sardis Lake, at the intersection of Henry Heafner Road and Riverview Road, just off Hwy. 315. When it rains, it pours in the area. Even a two-inch gusher can send debris flowing into the roads.

"School buses can’t even pass through when it rains," said Bena Monfee. "They have to let the children off near the front of our house. The road is flooded all the way over.

"But we make the best of it," she said, "sometimes having fun while playing and swimming in the deep-filled ditches."

The Monfees approached the Panola County Board of Supervisors for help with the problem.

The Monfees have lived at their current home for five years. They help manage 33 rental properties on Henry Heafner Road. A ditch on the back side of their property is maintained by the county, and another, adjacent to their home, is property owned by the U.S. Corps of Engineers.

Derrick Lane, of 309 Warren Street, Como, was arrested by the Panola County Sheriff’s Department Monday, October 14.

Lane, a convicted felon, is charged with the murder of popular gospel singer and restaurant owner Darron Jones, which occurred Monday, September 16, at approximately 2:19 a.m. on I-55 north at the Tate/Panola County line.

Shannon Garrett, manager of Lake Inn Motel in Sardis, told The Panolian previously that Jones had been in the process of opening a restaurant located in front of the motel.

The restaurant, called Up In Smoke, was to be the third restaurant Jones owned, with two others located in Coldwater and Senatobia.

According to Panola County Det. Craig Sheley, Lane had pled guilty on September 17, the day after the alleged murder, to a charge of possession of cocaine.

Lane was sentenced to five years at the Mississippi Department of Corrections, which was suspended. He was placed on supervised probation for one year and fined $2,000.

"Because his conviction [on the drug charge] was entered after the alleged murder," Sheley said, "we can’t revoke his probation."

But this was not the first time Lane has found himself on the wrong side of the law.

According to Senatobia Police Chief Sammy Webb, Lane is also charged with aggravated assault for allegedly shooting a 27-year-old man at the Pecan Grove Trailer Park in Senatobia on August 4. The victim was injured, but survived.

The case is pending in Tate County Circuit Court. Bond was set at $50,000. Lane remains incarcerated at the Panola County Detention Center.