Indictments are Handed Down in Double Murder Case

Three men were indicted this week in a November 2020 double murder case in Mason County. Brandon A. Smith of Milton is accused of killing two men — Ivan Lambert and Ricky Pickens — and injuring another, James Smith Jr., in a shooting on Whitten Ridge Road near Hannan. Two of Smith’s alleged accomplices, Corey A. Turner and Dustin L. Lyons, were each indicted on two counts of accessory to murder. If convicted, the two men would face life sentences. Deputies said they found three men with gunshot wounds in a Mason County home on Nov. 13, 2020. Lambert was pronounced dead at the scene while Pickens and Smith were taken to a local hospital. Pickens later died from his injuries.