Baldwyn man charged with manslaughter in Saltillo stabbing death

Blake Alsup, Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, Tupelo

Feb. 22—TUPELO — A Baldwyn man is being held on $1-million bond after being charged in connection with the stabbing death of a Saltillo man.

Maurice Agnew, 54, of Baldwyn, was arrested on Sunday and charged with manslaughter. Agnew is accused of stabbing to death Thelbert Randall Cowley, 56, of Saltillo.

The Lee County Sheriff's Department responded to a reported stabbing at a residence on County Road 2204 in Saltillo at 12:23 p.m. on Sunday. When deputies arrived, they reportedly found Cowley had suffered injuries to his chin and had stab wounds in his shoulder and chest area.

Medics transported Cowley to North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo via ambulance, where he later died.

Cowley's body will be sent to Pearl for an autopsy, according to Lee County Coroner Carolyn Green.

LCSD investigators believe the stabbing took place at another residence down the road from where Cowley was found. Johnson said investigators found Agnew hiding in a building near where the stabbing took place.

Investigators believe Cowley was stabbed during an altercation that began as a conversation between the two men but ended with the victim being stabbed multiple times.

Cowley and Agnew knew each other and had recently been seen together, according to Johnson.

This is the second time Agnew has been charged in connection with a violent crime. In 2018, he was convicted of aggravated assault after he cut a victim's throat. That conviction resulted in a sentence of 20 years' imprisonment.

Agnew spent two years and five months of his sentence in the Lee County Jail before the remainder of his 20-year sentence was suspended and he was released.

Agnew was on probation for his 2018 conviction when he was arrested Sunday.

blake.alsup@djournal.com