A man who was the first elected black county supervisor in Mississippi’s Yazoo County has died in a house fire.
Yazoo County Sheriff Jacob told WLBT-TV that Herman Leach died on Friday.
The sheriff said Leach, 85, was the only person home. He said investigators are trying to determine the cause of the fire.
FLORIDA FIREFIGHTERS FIGHT A MASSIVE HOUSE FIRE, SAY LIKELY THE CAUSE
The former Mississippi County supervisor died in a house fire on Friday. Authorities are working to determine the cause of the fire and believe that Herman Leach was the only one present in the house.
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Leach won county board election in 1979 after working for the state highway department and served as a supervisor for more than 20 years, retiring in the mid-2000s. Leach started out as a youth coach and community activist . His brother Wardell Leach was the first black mayor of Yazoo City from 1998 to 2006.
In 1992, Leach became caught up in an investigation by state auditor Steve Patterson, who accused Leach of making the county pay for private phone bills and installing an air conditioner on Leach’s property. Leach denied any wrongdoing.
