Pastor killed after stopping to help man believed to have escaped from jail, cops say
A pastor was killed by a man matching the description of one of four men on the run from a detention center, Mississippi officials told news outlets.
A supervisor at the Raymond Detention Center was told April 23 the headcount of detainees was off, and the facility was put in lockdown, Hinds County Sheriff Tyree Jones said in an April 24 news conference.
Jones said staff found a “breach” in the ceiling of one of the cells and later found another in the roof.
Four people were then found to be missing from the facility and grounds, according to the sheriff’s office.
A Hinds County Public Works truck was stolen but later turned up in Spring Valley, Texas, the sheriff’s office said. Deputies don’t believe all of the men were traveling together.
Another pickup truck, a red Chevy Silverado, was also stolen and is still missing, deputies said. Deputies believe the theft was in connection with the escaped detainees.
One of the men, 22-year-old Dylan Arrington, is suspected of fatally shooting a pastor after he was found dead April 24 with his truck was stolen, WLBT reported.
The pastor, 61-year-old Anthony Watts, pulled over on the road when he saw a young man crash on a motorcycle, the Associated Press reported.
The man on the motorcycle matched the description of Arrington, officials told WLBT.
Watts got out of his truck to help, according to WAPT, when the man shot him and drove off in Watts’ red Dodge Ram, officials said.
Watts died at the scene, outlets reported.
“It’s my understanding that the Terry Police Department did get into a pursuit (with a truck) matching the description,” Jones told WAPT. “But at the time, I did not know, nor did Terry know that they were chasing a vehicle that had just been carjacked and that the suspect occupying this vehicle had possibly fatally wounded someone, as well.”
Arrington, along with escaped detainees 51-year-old Jerry Raynes, 24-year-old Casey Grayson, Sr. and 22-year-old Corey Harrison had not been found as of Tuesday evening.
Watts was the head pastor of St. Mary’s Missionary Baptist Church in D’Lo, Mississippi, the assistant pastor told WLBT.
He celebrated his sixth year with the church at the beginning of the month, according to a Facebook post.
The Raymond Detention Center is in Hinds County, about 15 miles west of Jackson.
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