2 men arrested in Muncie slayings; search continues for 3rd possible victim
MUNCIE, Ind. — Two Muncie men have been arrested in an early Wednesday armed home invasion that left a pair of victims dead of gunshot wounds.
Devin Xavier Myers and Daniel L. Jones, both 27, are preliminarily charged with two counts of murder and single counts of robbery resulting in serious bodily injury and criminal confinement while armed with a deadly weapon.
Malcolm E. Perdue, 69, and Kyndra K. Swift, 51, were pronounced dead at the scene of the slayings, a home in the 2900 block of South Liberty Street, just north of West 23rd Street. Emergency responders were sent there shortly before 5 a.m. Wednesday.
Authorities fear another member of an extended family that included Perdue and Swift might also have been slain early Wednesday at another location. That young man — described as a friend of Myers — had not been found as of early Thursday morning.
Two other members of the family living at the South Liberty Street address also were home during the armed home invasion, but were not shot. One of the survivors fled from the house when gunfire broke out.
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Those witnesses identified Myers as one of the armed intruders. Another witness also told police she saw a man later identified as Myers near the crime scene.
According to investigators:
• Jones — who police said had fled to an apartment on East Willard Street after the slayings — was later apprehended there. He reportedly admitted to participating with Myers in what was intended to be a robbery at the Liberty Street house.
However, Jones reportedly said he fled from the house after hearing gunshots — and seeing Myers in the rear of the house with the two slaying victims.
• A small safe Jones had allegedly taken from the victims' home was found in the Willard Street apartment. It reportedly had contained "silver coins and what appeared to be marijuana edibles."
Jones — who reportedly instructed his girlfriend to tell police he had been in their apartment throughout the night — was also preliminarily charged with resisting law enforcement and obstruction of justice.
• Myers was taken into custody Wednesday afternoon after he allegedly overdosed at his home in the 2100 block of South Pershing Drive.
He was treated at IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital before being taken to the Delaware County jail.
• While at the hospital, Myers reportedly struggled with officers trying to obtain a court-ordered DNA sample, and told investigators, "You'll never find Devin Myers' gun."
Myers was at first held in the jail for an alleged parole violation. The Muncie man's criminal record includes a 2014 conviction for armed robbery.
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• The surviving members of the Liberty Street household told investigators their missing family member had most recently been there on Tuesday evening, in the company of Myers and Myers' girlfriend, 18-year-old Alexandra Paige Reagan.
• Jones told police that when he encountered Myers later in the night, Myers reported he had earlier shot a friend in the face, and that Reagan had then helped him dispose of the body.
• Investigators later found a Jeep Grand Cherokee linked to the missing man in the 200 block of East Ninth Street, where they said an attempt had been made to hide the vehicle. A substance believed to be blood was found on its center console.
• Reagan was arrested early Thursday on a preliminarily count of assisting a criminal, for her alleged role in hiding the Cherokee and disposing of the victim's body.
Her bond was set at $5,000. Myers and Jones were being held without bond.
Deputy Police Chief Melissa Criswell asked anyone with information on the slayings to call the Muncie Police Department's detective division at 765-747-4867 or police dispatchers at 765-747-4838.
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Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: 2 held in Muncie slayings; police searching for 3rd possible victim
