I lived for a number of years in Lafayette County, MS, which is adjacent to Panola County, where the murder occurred. Most of the cops and prosecutors in the region are professional and they don’t follow the “big city” example of trying the case in the media, through carefully-timed leaks.
In one of their few public statements on the crime, local authorities said the victim was able to communicate with first responders before being airlifted to the trauma center in Memphis, where she died. They have not said what the young woman conveyed to them before she lost consciousness. The prosecutor and sheriff (along with the state police) will build a solid case, and announce the arrests—after the accused are taken into custody.
Panola is a working-class area; still a few factories in the area (including Batesville Casket, which dominates that industry), along with smaller employers. Poverty rate isn’t as high as in the Mississippi Delta counties that lie to the west. Fair number of the locals are on the dole and there is a meth trade, though it’s not as widespread as other areas of the state.
The trail in this case looks like it will lead back to the former boyfriend. Given the racial component (and recent events in Ferguson), local authorities are being very careful to develop overwhelming evidence before making the arrests. And it won’t take a Mississippi jury long to convict the killers, regardless of the racial composition of that panel.
As a resident of the Magnolia State for more than half a century I certainly agree with your assessment. The racial component of this heinous crime is the ultimate priority. The longer the announcing of certain facts can be delayed the better for the politically correct narrative. That narrative must be maintained and a particularly horrendous black male on blonde white female crime detracts from that narrative.