Itawamba County man in jail after wife apparently strangled

UPDATE: Bond was denied Wednesday morning.

ITAWAMBA COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – An Itawamba County man is arrested after investigators say his wife was apparently strangled at their home early Tuesday morning.

A heartbreaking scene on Footney Brown Road in Itawamba County and now a homicide investigation is underway.

Sheriff Chris Dickinson says  deputies found the body of Destiny Underwood, 19.  Investigators believe she was strangled to death.

“It’s a terrible tragedy, I know we have two families here that are broken to pieces over this,” Sheriff Dickinson said.

Sheriff Dickinson says Destiny’s husband, Avery Underwood, 19, is arrested and will likely be charged with murder.  The couple had a three-month-old baby, who is being cared for by relatives.

Right now, investigators have yet to find a motive.

“We’re on top of it, being very methodical with what we’re doing, make sure we do everything correctly,” Dickinson said.

The sheriff says that’s important to remember, even when a suspect is in custody.  He points out that there has been a lot of misinformation about this case on social media.

“We’re a small community here, and I encourage people, stay off Facebook, people will flat-out make up stuff, there may be no truth whatsoever to that,” he said.

Sheriff Dickinson says it appears Avery Underwood has no prior criminal record.