Man faces attempted murder charge in May shooting
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JACKSON, Tenn. — A suspected gunman is behind bars, accused in a shooting that left a Jackson man paralyzed. Rodney Bailey appeared Wednesday in Jackson City Court where he was officially charged with attempted first-degree murder. He was arrested Tuesday morning. Court papers say Bailey shot Mark Webb in the neck May 28 outside the victim’s west Jackson apartment. Police say Webb’s pregnant wife, who witnessed the crime, identified the suspect in a photo lineup. Jasmine Payne recalls the night that nearly took her husband’s life. She says they were home watching movies with friends when she stepped outside to buy a cigarette from a man in the parking lot. Payne said the man, Bailey, kept asking where her husband was because he didn’t want to upset her husband. Payne told Bailey the cigarette was for her husband. Her husband heard the conversation and stepped outside to see what was going on. Payne says her husband and Bailey had a short conversation and that no argument or fighting happened. Police say this is when Bailey pulled a gun on the victim and shot him through the neck. “He fell and I had to climb on top of him, and I put my thumb inside his neck so he could breathe,” Payne said. The victim was taken to Jackson-Madison County General Hospital where he was stabilized before being transported to Regional One Medical Center in Memphis. The wounds left Webb paralyzed from the chest down. “Now he can’t hold his babies no more,” Payne said, talking about their three children. “He can’t walk anymore. He can’t do the things we said we was going to do.” Payne says she can’t keep living in the past and told her husband what would happen if she met Bailey again. “If I was to meet the guy, I told him I’d forgive him because — I do,” Payne said. Payne is taking classes to learn how to take care of her husband when he comes home. Due to the stress of the shooting, Payne says her baby boy was born five weeks premature. Her husband was able to meet their son for the first time last week.
Bailey is jailed in lieu of a $250,000 bond.
