By Billy Davis

Three suspects who were questioned by authorities about the disappearance of Tommy “Burnside” Moore are now charged with his murder.

Panola sheriff’s deputies arrested cousins Odell McBrayer Jr. and Larry McBrayer Jr., and Antonio Glover, charging them with capital murder.

Glover and Odell McBrayer were picked up May 7 by sheriff’s deputies. Larry McBrayer turned himself in at the sheriff’s office.  

Assistant District Attorney Jay Hale reported those charges Monday, alleging that Moore was killed over an argument about stolen narcotics.

The weekend arrests came after a body was found Friday morning in a drainage ditch on Paul White Road, located north of Como at the Tate County line.

The body, believed to be Moore, has not been positively identified.

An autopsy was performed Monday and results from a DNA test are due by mid-week, said Panola coroner Gracie Grant-Gulledge.

Gulledge would not disclose any details about the cause of death, citing the ongoing investigation, though another official familiar with the investigation told The Panolian the body was badly burned and showed signs of gunshot wounds.

Moore’s torched yellow Buick Roadmaster had been found April 30 by family members on nearby Floyd Taylor Road.

At the scene of the automobile fire, a thorough search of the surrounding area, by ground and air, had failed to find Moore.  

A passerby who was picking up cans for scrap metal saw the body and alerted authorities, said Panola Sheriff Otis Griffin.

Hale also reported that four other suspects are charged with burning down a brick home at 217 Field Street in Como to cover up evidence.

Facing a felony arson charge are Marshall Doneil Little, Fredrick Terrell Moss, Cedrick Demond Walker, and Derrek Eugene Faulkner, all of Como.

Glover lived in the Field Street home, which burned to the ground April 29, a day after Moore’s mother, Lillie Moore, filed a missing person report with Como police.

Tommy Moore lived in the home, with his mother, at 215 Field Street next door.

The Panolian reported last week that Moore’s girlfriend, Brunkeisha Black, suggested to Como police that drugs had been stolen from Glover’s home when Odell McBrayer left them outside, when he went back inside to retrieve a pistol.

A copy of the police report, obtained by The Panolian, included interviews with Mrs. Moore and Black. 

Black told a police officer the stolen drugs story had come from Moore himself, though her retelling of the story did not include that Moore had stolen the narcotics. 

She told police she had last seen her boyfriend on Thursday, April 28, when Glover picked up Burnside at her apartment shortly after 1 p.m. 

The report also states that, 10 minutes after Glover and Burnside left, Adrian Taylor and Larry McBrayer came to her apartment and asked for Burnside’s car keys and cellular phone.

“Mrs. Black said she and Tommy’s family have been trying to call him ever since,” the police report, taken by Sgt. Travis Nichols, states.

Hale said a fifth person, Edrico Echols of Como, is charged with accessory after the fact, a felony charge that implies he allegedly knew of Moore’s murder.

Hale did not say how Echols allegedly aided the other defendants after Moore’s murder.