A mandatory life sentence will stand for a Beauregard Parish man convicted for his part in the 2020 death of Jimmie Box Jr. — who was kidnapped in DeRidder, then taken to Bon Wier, Texas, where he was shot in the back of the head and his body left at an oil site.
Clinton R. Ford was convicted by an unanimous jury in June of 2024 of first-degree murder. He is one of five people linked to Box’s Aug. 2, 2020, death.
Melissa Box, the victim’s mother, testified a missing persons report was filed on her son on Aug. 3, 2020. Four days later, she received information about her son’s 4Runner being spotted in the Gillis area, which she then followed to a gas station in Moss Bluff. She said she notified the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office as she followed the vehicle and told deputies the cargo rack had been disassembled and a few stickers were removed.
The driver was later identified as Zachary Sylvest. Upon inspecting the vehicle, Box said told deputies the radio, subwoofer, speakers and a pistol were missing. Sylvest was subsequently arrested after suspected methamphetamine and heroin were found in the vehicle. Following his interview with CPSO, a search warrant was issued for two homes — one of which was shared by Derek Person and ex-girlfriend Haley Limes. During the search, Box’s subwoofer, swords, firearms, ammunition and a DVR recording system were recovered. Pieces of a dissembled 9mm semi-automatic handgun was also discovered in various places throughout the home.
Limes — who according to phone records was the last person to speak to Box on the night of his death — told officers that Ford and Person held Box at gunpoint on the night of his disappearance with a 9mm handgun.
Limes admitted she lied to law enforcement on numerous occasions because she did not want “to be murdered like Jimmie.” She testified that Person was affiliated with people who could potentially harm her. She also admitted lying to Box’s mother regarding her son’s whereabouts because she did not want Person to find out she had told.
According to Limes, Person killed Box and Ford “was the transportation.” She said Box had been to her home the night of Aug. 2, 2020, to pick up some wooden pallets and admitted she knew ahead of time that Person and Ford had planned to ambush him when he arrived over a drug deal gone wrong. She said when Box arrived, she heard Person tell him to “be cool,” “nothing was going to happen” and “they just wanted to talk.” She subsequently heard the front door shut, saw headlights through the window and heard truck doors shut.
She said when Person and Ford returned, Box was not with them.
Limes would later plead guilty to manslaughter.
Texas Ranger Samuel “Cody” Lankford testified he was contacted about a fugitive by the name of Clinton Ford in 2020 and cell records revealed him to be in a motel in Ingleside, Texas. Upon his arrest, Ford’s cell phone was recovered and a 9mm handgun was found in his truck.
Beauregard Parish Sheriff’s Office Det. Travis Thompson testified it was Ford’s cell phone that led to the discovery of Box’s body. Thompson said the phone’s data pinpointed the site in Bon Weir and while searching the location, officers smelled decomposition and found human remains.
Thompson said Box was found lying face down with his hands bound behind his back with a black chord. Box’s LSU Crocs were found next to him.
Federal Bureau of Investigation Agent Paul Nixon testified that a shell casing and bullet fragments were found underneath Box’s body.
Ford’s phone showed he was at the oil site for 13 minutes in the early morning hours of Aug. 2, 2020. A recovered video of him taken later the same day shows him inside Box’s 4Runner. In another video, Ford states he doesn’t want to go “back to that dark place,” “I assume you know what happened,” and “not proud of it.”
During his interview with BPSO, Ford said he went to Person’s house because a drug deal was supposed to take place for a quarter pound of marijuana. He said Person told him and Box they were going to take a ride. He said when they reached Texas, Person and Box got out of the car and 10-15 minutes later Person returned alone. He said he did not ask Person about Box’s whereabouts and claimed he went to Ingleside to work and get back on his feet.
He also told deputies he took pictures of the 4Runner to send to someone interested in purchasing it. He said he didn’t know it belonged to Box.
When asked if Person discussed the plan ahead of time, Ford said Person said “something about putting a cricket on a wire or cricket on a hook.”
Ford said said he was set up to be the fall person, and he had no idea what was happening at the time.
Person’s then-girlfriend Shona West testified before the kidnapping, she heard Person tell Ford “he was going to kill that motherf-er.”
She said when Person and Ford returned she asked Ford what happened to Box.
“He said, ‘You don’t have to worry about him. He’s not coming back.’ And I said, ‘OK’. And then, he was talking about how Derek had given him a gun as a present for what they had just did.”
West also said Ford told her that when Person heard the breath leave Box’s body, he freaked out and put the casing underneath the body.
In his appeal to the Louisiana 3rd Circuit, Ford claims the evidence at trial was insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt he participated in either the killing or kidnapping of the victim. He contends he was not the person who shot Box, did not have specific intent to kill him and was not a principal to the offense.
That claim was denied with the court ruling “the evidence presented at trial, along with the reasonable inferences drawn from the circumstantial evidence, supports the findings that Ford directly committed or aided and abetted Person.”
“Even though Ford argues that both Hayley and Shona made inconsistent statements and admitted to lying to police multiple times throughout the investigation, it is the factfinder’s role to weigh the credibility of the witnesses,” the court state. “Ford’s statements to police were clearly contradictory, and the jury was free to accept or reject portions of his statements and to draw any reasonable inferences from conflicting statements.”
Ford also claims the court lacked jurisdiction over the offense because the act constituting the offense occurred outside of Louisiana.
The court also rejected this claim, stating the evidence presented shows that while in Beauregard Parish, Ford and Person — who was armed with a gun — tied Box’s hands and placed him in Ford’s truck, “which established the second-degree kidnapping element of first-degree felony murder. The two then immediately transported Jimmie to Texas, where he was killed.”
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