Multi-state Crime Suspect Now To Face Mississippi Charges

BRANDON, Miss. (AP) – A man convicted in Kansas now faces trial in Mississippi over a series of shootings and killings.

Rankin County District Attorney Michael Guest said Monday that authorities have returned Alex Deaton to Mississippi and aim for a summer trial on murder, drive-by shooting and motor vehicle theft indictments.

Alex Deaton

Deaton is accused of strangling his girlfriend, stealing her SUV, and shooting a jogger in 2017. He’s also indicted for killing a woman near Philadelphia, Mississippi.

Police say Deaton then carjacked a New Mexico couple, fled to Kansas, shot a store clerk and stole the clerk’s car.

Deaton pleaded guilty in July in Kansas to attempted first-degree murder and aggravated robbery. He was sentenced there in October to nearly 13 years in prison.

He faces a possible life sentence if convicted in Mississippi.

(Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)