The case involving the March 7 murder of an MSU student will go to a grand jury this July, Oktibbeha County Sheriff Dolph Bryan said.Bryan said there will be no more updates released on the case.
He said he is not allowed to release further details about the incident as ordered by circuit court.
“It’s an ongoing investigation,” Bryan said.
Management of construction and land development major Andreas Galanis, 28, was found dead in an unoccupied bedroom of his TwentyOne Apartments home at approximately 6 p.m.
Senior arts and sciences major Bobby Batiste, 28, was arrested by Oktibbeha County deputies Friday evening at TwentyOne Apartments and charged with capital murder.
TwentyOne property manager Nandra Jackson said she could not comment on the incident due to company policy.
Jackson referred all questions to Corky Gatewood, vice president of marking and media relations for Ambling Management Company.
Gatewood was out of town and could not be reached for comment.
Ambling manages the TwentyOne complex, located south of campus on Oktoc Road.
Oktibbeha County deputies found Galanis’ body after answering a missing persons call issued by his family.
Matt Sfirakis of Clearwater, Fla., a close friend of Galanis, said Galanis was supposed drive to Biloxi early Friday morning to catch a flight to Florida.
Unable to reach Galanis by his cell phone and after discovering that he had missed his flight, his mother filed a missing persons request, Sfirakis said.
A friend was supposed to pick up Galanis from the airport in Florida on Friday, but Sfirakis said Galanis never arrived.
Deputies arrived at the apartment where Batiste let them inside. After finding Galanis’ body, the deputies arrested Batiste, a Preston native.
Bryan said that Galanis’ body had “very visible wounds” and blood was found in the apartment, but final autopsy results have not been announced.
Preliminary results revealed that Galanis died of trauma to the head, according to sheriff’s department officials.
Galanis, Batiste and another roommate shared a four-bedroom apartment, said Sfirakis.
Sfirakis said Galanis had planned to fly to Florida to visit him and another friend during his Spring Break.
Sfirakis said he believes he was the last person to speak to Galanis before his death. During their phone conversation, Galanis told him that money was missing from his debit account.
Galanis told Sfirakis that he thought a roommate had taken the money since he left his ATM card and PIN number on his desk.
The third roommate had just moved in about a month ago, so Galanis did not think he had stolen the money, Sfirakis said.
Sfirakis described Galanis as a hard worker who was always willing to help others.
“He always tried to think of ways to better his life and the life of his mom and sister,” Sfirakis said.
Pallbearer George Lakiotis said Galanis had a strong work ethic.
“I hope people remember how hard he worked to get where he got. He was one in a million,” he said.
Galanis’ adviser and program coordinator Charles Byrd said he started at MSU last fall.
Byrd said Galanis put forth good efforts in class and had solid attendance.
“He was definitely involved with the major in as many aspects as possible for just getting started here last semester,” Byrd said.
Patrick Moran, of Ocean Springs, said he knew Galanis through work nine years ago.
“He was a very smart person, very outgoing. He wanted to reach his goals,” Moran said.
Galanis had bought some land and wanted to build condominiums there after he finished school, Moran said.
He said Galanis was his best friend and helped him take care of his son, who called him “Uncle Andreas.”
“If he could help you out, he would,” Moran said. “He helped me get medicine for my kids before.”
Moran said Galanis was never prejudiced.
“I want everyone to know that in no way was he prejudiced,” Moran said. “He had friends of many different races. Trust me, if he hadn’t, he wouldn’t have been my best friend because my wife is African-American.”
Sfirakis said Galanis’ interests included basketball, football and the stock market.
“He would always be in the stocks, reading money magazines, reading all the financial stuff,” Sfirakis said. “He wanted to be like Donald Trump someday.”
Galanis’ mother and sister could not be reached for comment.
Bill Kibler, vice president for student affairs, said the MSU Police Department assisted the sheriff’s department in the case.
He said MSU detectives provided additional manpower and accompanied the Oktibbeha County detectives to Jackson for the autopsy.
The university’s police department is an assisting agency, not the investigating agency, Kibler said.
“When you’re in the investigation phase, those of us that aren’t involved in it aren’t allowed to know [everything],” Kibler said. “Our natural involvement in this is because both parties involved students.