MS Coast man said he accidentally shot Cruisin’ The Coast spectator. The judge fired back
A Biloxi man called it an accident when he shot at a car with individuals who had shot at him and instead struck a Highway 90 spectator at the 2021 Cruisin’ The Coast event, but the judge fired back.
Nyheem Frazier, 22, of Biloxi, said he fired the shots after another car pulled up next to him at the red light on Rodenburg Avenue at Highway 90 and fired at him and the car he was in.
Frazier said that after the shots were fired at the car he was in, he “hopped out of (passenger side of) my car and opened fire.”
Frazier’s attorney, Jim Davis, said his client claims he was acting in self-defense in response to the individuals in the other car that first fired at Frazier and his friends.
Assistant District Attorney George Huffman said the victim was sitting in a chair near Snapper’s restaurant to watch the cruisers come by when the shooting happened.
“I am sorry,” Frazier told Judge Christopher Schmidt when he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault Monday in the Oct. 6, 2021, shooting that left longtime Picayune track and field coach Jerry Todd, 62, shot and injured. “It was an accident. “
“An accident?” Schmidt fired back. “You intended to shoot that gun. You didn’t intentionally shoot him, but he wasn’t accidentally shot. You had every intent to shoot when you got out of that car. If Mr. Todd had been killed by what you did, you would be facing a second-degree murder charge.”
As a result, Judge Schmidt sentenced Frazier to 20 years in prison, suspended 10 years and left him 10 years to serve, followed by five years under post-release supervision.
At the time of the shooting, large crowds had gathered along both sides of Highway 90 to watch antique, classic, and muscle cars drive by during the eight-day event, which attracts thousands and is known as one of the top car shows in the nation.
Todd and others fired at least 15 rounds during the shooting, Biloxi police said early on.
After the initial shots were fired, the two cars continued to follow one another along Highway 90 westbound when gunfire was exchanged between the two cars, a black Dodge Charger and a silver Nissan sedan.
Todd was sitting next to his classic Mustang on the southeast corner of Highway 90 and Rodenburg Avenue near Snapper’s restaurant when he was struck by gunfire.
In the aftermath, Todd’s daughter, Megan Todd, called what happened to her father “a stupid and senseless act by people with a lack of morals.”
Megan Todd said her father was in a great deal of pain in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, though she said he was fortunate because the bullet struck him in the chest and exited his back without hitting any major organs.
“How anybody could shoot aimlessly into a crowd of people — and you know there had to be children — ... I’ve had every emotion, and I’m just left with anger,” Megan Todd said at the time.
After the shooting, Todd said he felt “like a 10-pound bumblebee sting,” his daughter said.
Two nurses happened to be among the crowd of spectators and rushed in to provide immediate aid to Todd before he could get to the hospital.
Registered nurse Monique Pietrowski was one of the nurses and said afterward that she wasn’t sure Todd would make it.
God put me in the right place, she said.
One of the nurses applied pressure to Todd’s chest to stanch the blood flow while the other kept his legs elevated as part of the emergency treatment.
Todd, Peitrowski said, could have bled to death without quick intervention.
Before imposing the sentence, the prosecuting attorney said Todd approved the sentencing recommendation and said restitution wasn’t needed because his insurance covered the costs of his treatment and recovery. He could not make it to court for the sentencing.
