Only One Mic Podcast

Mississippi Mom Shot a Monkey to Protect Her Kids

• One Mic • Season 15 • Episode 9

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A quiet Mississippi morning turned into a moral crossroads after a truck carrying rhesus monkeys overturned and set fear loose in a small town. When Jessica, a mother of five, spotted one of the escapees in her yard, she made a split-second decision that has since sparked a national argument: prudent protection or panic-driven overreach? We walk through her first-hand account, the official warnings and walk-backs, and the uneasy space where public safety, research logistics, and parental instinct collide.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, the Mississippi woman who shot and killed an escaped monkey yesterday said she feared for the safety of her children. The monkey became free when a truck carrying a group of monkeys overturned last week. Most of the animals were killed. Two of the Reese's monkeys are still free. The 40-pound animal is among the breed most medically studied on the planet.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. Hey guys. Peace family. You're doing well and blessed today. You're tuning into the sound of the Only One Mike Podcast, Mike Drop Show, where we break down today's biggest moves in culture and community through conversation that matters. I'm your host, Carl Gerard, and I appreciate you locking in with me. Whether you've been following every episode or this is your first time tuning in, this space is all about truth, clarity, and conversations that truly matter. I'm not here to tell you what to think, folks. I'm just here to lay it out for you. All right, so let me go ahead and set this scene and rewind the clock back to October 28th. Truck carrying Reese's monkeys overturned on I-95 near Heidelberg, Mississippi. The crates busted open and the animals bolted into the woods, and the town was suddenly on alert. Officials first warned that the monkeys could be dangerous or carry diseases. But later, Tulane University, which owned the animals, clarified that they haven't been exposed to anything infectious. Still, that first message stuck with people and they were scared. The word disease just spread faster than anything throughout the community. Now, here's where things take a turn. A few days later, on a quiet Sunday morning, Miss Jessica Barnes, and let's go ahead and applaud Jessica Barnes, a real American hero and a mother of five. She looked out her window and sees something moving in her yard. Her 16-year-old son spotted it first. It's a monkey. One of the escapees. She says that her first thought was, I need to protect my kids. So she grabs her guns, steps outside, and next thing you know, she hit the monkey twice, and then the threat. But that moment, that choice, lit up debates across the country. Was it fear, instinct, or overreaction? Was she protecting the home or responding to panic caused by mixed messages from the authorities? Now I want y'all to hear this straight from her. All right. This is Jessica Bond, and she's talking about what went down in her own words, y'all. I want y'all to play pay close attention to what she's saying, and then you know, collect your thoughts from there, and then we'll jump back into it. So here we go, Miss Jessica Bond. Applaud her once again. Protecting her family. And here's her story, folks. Check this out.

SPEAKER_03:

Um, so first, can you say and spell your first and last name, please?

SPEAKER_02:

Jessica Bond, J-E-S-S-I-C-A, V-O-N-D.

SPEAKER_03:

Perfect. Nice to meet you, Miss Jessica.

SPEAKER_02:

Nice to meet you. Um, I guess we'll start simple. What happened to you yesterday? Well, um, I was sleeping for the most part, and my son heard the dolls barking because I had told him the night before, Saturday night, that I was hearing noises in the bushes. And I told him that it was strange noises. And I said, Y'all just don't go outside. I said, uh, if you do, let me know. So I guess he was alert and he was aware about the noises. So when he heard heard the dolls barking, he um he looked out the window and he told, he called me and said, Ma, the dog's outside barking at something. So I said, Well, see what it is. You know, I was still in bed and I was getting out the bed trying to get my clothes. So he said, um, he said, Ma, it look like a monkey. So I said, I said, well, to go. I said, record it. I said, make sure, because, you know, so we could have um proof of it, that it was in our yard. Because I didn't know if it was just running past or, you know, leaving or whatever. So he said, I can't get a click shot. He said, but Ma, it's the monkeys. So I said, oh snap, let me get my, let me get my phone and let me get my gun, let me call um the police and stuff. So when I come out, I um I got in my truck and I bagged up down this road and I stopped about right there. And he was on top of that bin right there, and he he he left from that bin and went and jumped on the railing of that porch. And um I sat in my truck, and when I when I got out, I said, okay, you know, do I sit here and wait for it to run away, run to somebody else's yard? You know, I have a three-year-old, and you know, what if it come back out, you know, had in the woods and come back out and and try to attack her later on. And, you know, she can't defend herself from a wild monkey, and uh all it takes is a little scratch for her to, you know, develop something. And we don't know what these monkeys have because one minute they have this, and then the next minute Tulane is saying they don't have anything to avoid lawsuits and stuff. So, you know, I'm not gonna take my chances with my baby versus uh infected animal. So um I did what any mother would do, and um I got out and I I shot at the uh monkey, and he he just he had a look like something was wrong with him, you know. He it looked like something was wrong, and I love animals. And I have dogs, I have a cat, I have a rabbit, you know, and she has had a turtle. We love animals. So it's like it's like not like I'm an animal killer, you know. I didn't want to just kill a thing, but I mean, it's it's my baby versus the animal, a dangerous animal at that, you know.

SPEAKER_03:

No, I understand. Um, so when you you call 911 or you call wildlife in forestry?

SPEAKER_02:

Um, I called the game warrant and um I called the the 911. Okay. So how did the call go with the game warning? Well, um, they were just saying that they was gonna send somebody out, you know, asking for the address, and um that was basically it.

SPEAKER_03:

So you killed it before they got here? Right. Okay.

SPEAKER_02:

So when they got here, did they do any cleaning up or they didn't nothing? And then he picked it up off the porch and drug it through here and put it on the back of his pickup truck. You know, I would have thought he would have put it in the bag, you know, once he picked it up off the porch and put it in the bag. So now I have to disinfect and clean off everything through here because you know, you can't see where the blood trail is in it. So, and then you would thought that they would have came through and searched the woods in here and see if the other one is around. The other one could have been sitting in the woods watching everything go down, you know. So I'm sorry. The other one might be mad at me. You know, he might be somewhere watching. So, you know, it's crazy. You know, you can't you can't just sit here and just say, oh, well, let me just put in a cage of feed until somebody shows up, you know.

SPEAKER_03:

As far as the monkey's behavior, or I know you probably didn't get up close on it. Did you see anything on it that looked strange out of the ordinary, or did it just look like a monkey?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, it had like tattoos on it. Okay, you could see a tattoo like on him, and it looked like a black spot, but like when you zoom in on the um, I'm sorry, I heard something. And but when you zoom in, you could see like it was a like a tattoo on it. And you know, these is lab rats, basically. You know, they they getting tested and poked on. You you never know what they really have, you know, those three things that they name, that's probably just a few of the things that they have.

SPEAKER_03:

So how do you feel now today? It's a new day.

SPEAKER_02:

Um I don't I I mean, I hate that it happened because I do love animals, but you know, too many need to own up to it, and they need to get somebody out here looking for the rest of them. You know, intelligent. Okay.

SPEAKER_03:

Um is there anything else you want to say?

SPEAKER_02:

Um, get out here and find the rest of these monkeys, and for all the people that's being rude and negative, get out here and search for the animals and find them yourself.

SPEAKER_03:

So I don't think I have any other questions.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay, you all right.

SPEAKER_00:

She said the other one might be in the woods watching everything go down. No, this is wild, man. This is wild. So she said he was watching everything. Like, oh, he snapped it, got him. Yo, but but yeah, man, and the fact that they actually just drugged the monkey through a property. I mean, come on, y'all. Y'all gotta do the right thing. And whoever's in charge of dealing with this type of situation, you gotta, you gotta do the right responsible thing and go and disinfect this woman's house, man. She got babies in there, man. Come on. That don't make no sense. Now, you can feel that emotion, you felt that fear that instant. And she was out there, she wasn't out there like hunting for monkeys, you know what I mean? She was just reacting, and and and that, and that's what happened. So it's like, you know, the fear and the uncertainty of everything just made everything just go from zero to 60. And listen, I I can't hit this button enough, y'all. I gotta afford this beautiful southern sister for just doing what she needs to do to protect her family. Because, like she said, if that baby would have got scratched by that monkey, you don't know you could have another pandemic on your hand for all you know, man. You know what I mean? So you you gotta be careful. I did hear a report uh prior to um getting ready to set up for this that another one of the monkeys was um was killed, um or found dead, one of the two. Either way, the monkey is no longer with us, folks. So uh that's that's two down. So we still got where to go. It's two down. So I mean, you they they they they just gotta do the right thing, man. Like she said, go out in the woods, man, find the monkeys and start playing, you know what I mean? So this this is what happens, man, is that they they were out there, they're running around in these woods, you know, telling people that there was no infection risk and all that, but you can't trust what people are saying in that regard. Cause like she said, Tulane is probably trying to protect herself from any type of possible lawsuits that comes from all of this, you know what I mean? So, you know, this this story is just bigger than the monkeys and mom and everything. It's about what happens when everyday people get caught between official warnings and real life fear. Now, Jessica, you know, having five kids from ages, I believe she said her youngest was three, and I'm not sure the oldest one was 16. Um, and you hear that and you see, you know, that changes the story, that changes the view. You know what I mean? You don't see a shooter, you see a mother standing in the middle of confusing and confusion and like just protecting her babies, you know what I mean? As any parent should. So at the end of the day, whether it's Mississippi, Milwaukee, Manhattan, every parent can relate to that instant. Not my babies. We ain't doing that, you know what I mean? So listen, I want to ask y'all this. Okay. If you were Jessica, what would you have done? You know what I mean? If you was Jessica, I mean, this is a no-brainer, folks. And again, I'm not here to tell you what to think, but this is a no-brainer. Disease monkey running around in my backyard, if I have the means to get him up out of there. That's your babies. That's your babies. Now, should the authorities have warned people differently? Do y'all think that that should have gone down, or do you think they just like, uh, we're gonna sweep this one under the rug? You know what I mean? There's nothing to see here. Hopefully, we won't get sued. You know what I mean? And how do you balance that scientific and work research transport and all that, man? You know, how do you do that and keep the public safe? Because this this truck overturned, allegedly. Overturned and um all these monkeys got up, got up, and got out in the woods and did what they had to do. So, you know what I mean? Again, there's one more out there somewhere. As at the time of this report, two down, and there's one more to go. So, hey guys, listen, hit me up on Instagram X, or you you know, check out the YouTube channel. You can leave stuff in the comments here at the Only One Mike Podcast, and we can talk about it further. I'll read your thoughts, you know, and um respond accordingly, okay? So, once again, guys, truth is stranger than fiction. I mean, disease monkeys, you know, running around out here. We've seen this movie before, folks, and we know it don't end well. The only mic podcast, the only one mic podcast, folks, is available on all major platforms that you stream your pods on. Also, you know, check us out on YouTube, um, past and current episodes and all that. And um, what you can do too, hit that like, share, subscribe button, you know, and that that helps a lot of to my understanding. YouTube has something called a hype button now. I don't know how it all ins and outs of it works, but I know it kind of boosts us up the you know the uh algorithm a little bit. You know, the traffic, I should say, to the show. So if you can if you find that there and you can hit it, hey man, I I totally appreciate it. It helps us out more than you think, man. Uh, Instagram and X, you can catch us on at the only one mic P1, Facebook and LinkedIn at the only one mic podcast, and email us at the only one mic zero zero at gmail.com. Your voice, your questions, your take could be featured on the show. So again, guys, who's that peeking out your window? Nobody now. Especially if it's a disease monkey. Get him up out of there, y'all. We gotta protect our babies in the community, y'all. The only one my podcast, Mike Drop show, call your rod is out. Peace.