Shipyard shooting victim dies

PASCAGOULA - Donald Ray "Bubba" Eddins, 53, one of two supervisors shot at Northrop Grumman's Ingalls shipyard, fought for 11 days before he died at 3:20 p.m. Thursday.

Eddins was shot in the back by a disgruntled fellow employee on Feb. 21. He underwent repeated surgeries at Singing River Hospital to stop the bleeding in his liver. Police say he had 180 pints of blood and blood products, but never regained consciousness enough to communicate with his family.

His wife, Debbie, and his children and friends kept a vigil at the surgical intensive care waiting room. Northrop Grumman officials attended the family and employees held a blood drive for Eddins.

Fellow workers say they are going to miss Eddins, who was a hard worker with a good sense of humor.

"It is my sad duty to report that this afternoon, our teammate died at Singing River Hospital as a result of his wounds," said Northrop Grumman Ship Systems President Phil Dur. "We are all deeply saddened by this tragic news... We as a company join all who knew him in mourning his death, and we extend our heartfelt condolences to his family, friends and co-workers."

Dur said Eddins was a 25-year employee and called him a vital member of the shipyard and community. He said the company is working with the family to make arrangements for a memorial service.

A statement from the company offered condolences "as together, we work through these tragic times."

Alexander Lett, 41, held on aggravated assault charges in the shooting of Eddins and Ben Gaffney, now will likely face a charge of murder. He's being held at the county jail, arrested the day of the shooting after surrendering a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun used in the shooting, according to police.

District Attorney Tony Lawrence's office said the case will be presented to a grand jury in about two weeks as a murder case based on the evidence they have at present.

"We'll oppose any bond," said Assistant District Attorney Brice Wiggins.

Lett's attorney, Calvin Taylor, who was headed to the jail Thursday afternoon to give the news to Lett, said that he did not expect Lett to seek bail anytime soon.

Gautier Alderman Billy Sanders, who worked with Eddins in the Quality Assurance Department at the shipyard, said Thursday that his death is a great loss.

He described Eddins as a happy-go-lucky type of person with a quick wit and a dry sense of humor, and an "extremely good worker."

"You could count on him," Sanders said, "an exemplary employee."

Sanders said Eddins didn't miss work and liked that fact on his record. He said Eddins would take vacation to give blood so that the time it took wouldn't show up as unpaid lost time, even though the company allowed for that.

But when he could, he took the time to laugh. Sanders remembers once when Eddins told a new hire that the department supervisor's personal refrigerator was for everyone's use.

When the new hire cleared out the little dorm fridge to accommodate his lunch and the supervisor showed up looking for his diet Coke, "all that new guy could say was, "Bubba, uh, Bubba said..."

Sanders said the shooting has been on his mind constantly, but he hasn't really had the time to sit down and process what has happened.

"But this," Sanders said. "This is just a sad, sad day."