WICHITA, Kan. (AP) – The Latest on the capture of Alex Deaton, suspected of killing two people in Mississippi and shooting others in New Mexico and Kansas before he was captured (all times local):
6 p.m.
A man suspected in two slayings in Mississippi has been charged with attempted first-degree murder in the shooting of a Kansas convenience store clerk.
Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt on Thursday announced charges against 28-year-old Alex Bridges Deaton, who is also a suspect in other crimes in Mississippi and New Mexico.
Deaton is accused of shooting a 19-year-old convenience store clerk in Pratt, Kansas, on Wednesday. Authorities arrested Deaton after he allegedly fled the store with the clerk’s car and wrecked it in a neighboring county. The clerk was in stable condition Thursday at a Wichita hospital.
Schmidt says Deaton is also charged with aggravated robbery, theft and fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer. He is being held on $5 million bond.
Deaton’s first court appearance is scheduled for Monday in Pratt County District Court.
5:30 p.m.
A Kansas convenience store clerk says he was afraid he was going to die after he was shot during what authorities are calling a multi-state crime spree by a Mississippi man.
Nineteen-year-old Riley Juel is hospitalized in stable condition in Wichita. He was shot Wednesday at a Pratt, Kansas, Kwik Stop where he worked. The suspect, Alex Deaton, was arrested as he fled from officers after the shooting and is jailed in Kansas.
From his hospital bed at Via Christi Hospital, Juel told KSN News (http://bit.ly/2ljR8Zy ) Thursday that when Deaton entered the store, he walked to the counter and asked for Juel’s car keys. Juel says when he turned over the keys Deaton shot him at point-blank range.
Juel says he was able to call 911 and was alert the entire time before police arrived.
2:55 p.m.
Mississippi investigators are in Kansas hoping to interview a suspect arrested in a multi-state crime spree that included two Mississippi deaths, a violent kidnapping in New Mexico and a shooting west of Wichita.
Rankin County, Mississippi, Sheriff Bryan Bailey says investigators hoped to talk to 28-year-old Alex Deaton Thursday afternoon.
It’s unclear when Deaton will be returned to Mississippi. A Kansas Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman said deciding the question of extradition could take time.
Bailey says physical evidence was recovered in New Mexico tied to the Mississippi case, including the car that belonged to Deaton’s slain girlfriend, Heather Robinson, and firearms.
Robinson’s body was found in her apartment last week. Deaton is suspected of strangling her and fatally shooting a woman at a church in Neshoba County.
12:15 p.m.
The arrest of a suspect in Kansas after a multi-state crime spree that included two Mississippi killings has left his family “in a state of disbelief.”
Relatives of Alex Deaton released a statement to Mississippi media outlets Thursday saying they are horrified at the crimes Deaton is accused of committing. They say they are praying for victims and their families.
Deaton’s girlfriend, 30-year-old Heather Robinson, was found dead in her apartment last week. The 28-year-old Deaton is suspected of strangling her and fatally shooting a woman at a church in Neshoba County.
He was arrested Wednesday in Kansas after what authorities say was a crime spree that included another Mississippi shooting, the kidnapping of two people in New Mexico and the shooting of a store clerk in Kansas.
11:20 a.m.
The condition of a Kansas convenience store clerk has been upgraded after police say he was shot by a fugitive charged with two Mississippi killings.
A spokeswoman for Via Christi Hospital in Wichita says the man was in fair condition Thursday. He was listed in critical condition after being shot Wednesday in Pratt as officers searched for the suspect, 28-year-old Alex Deaton.
Police say Deaton stole a vehicle after shooting the clerk. Deaton was arrested when the vehicle crashed about 80 miles away.
The clerk’s family has identified him as 19-year-old Riley Juel. His sister tells Wichita television station KSNW that her brother was able to call police and his mother after being wounded to tell them what happened.
Deaton also is suspected of killing his girlfriend and another woman in Mississippi, and kidnapping two hikers in New Mexico.
Be the first to comment