Warrant: Suspect shot woman 6 times while her 21-month-old daughter was in car's back seat
Jason Robert Dockery reportedly shot Shystie Ranea Mayberry six times while she tried to flee from the passenger side of his car parked alongside a road Sept. 12 in the Heiskell community of Anderson County.
In the back seat of the red Chevrolet Sonic, in a car seat, was her 21-month-old daughter, according to a warrant filed by Anderson County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Don Scuglia. Dockery then fled the scene in the car, taking the child with him and leaving Mayberry along Moores Gap Road where he'd parked near the East Wolf Valley Road intersection.
The 44-year-old Knoxville man would be captured two days later, on Sept. 14, in Union County following a search involving multiple law enforcement agencies from Tennessee and Virginia. The search for Dockery would extend from Anderson County to Claiborne County, to Lee County, Virginia and back to Tennessee.
Dockery dropped Mayberry's daughter off in Claiborne County, according to Anderson County Sheriff Russell Barker. He said the child was turned over to the Department of Children's Services, and she will be reunited with relatives. He said Dockery's connection to the girl, if any, was yet to be determined as the Anderson County Sheriff's Office continued its investigation.
Dockery has been charged by the sheriff's office with first-degree murder. His arraignment hearing initially was set for Sept. 15, but was reset for Sept. 27. He is being held in the Anderson County jail in Clinton on $2 million bond. The public defender's office has been assigned to his case.
The murder warrant states that that the 9 millimeter semi-automatic pistol believed to have been used in the killing was in Dockery's possession when he was caught by Union County Sheriff's Office deputies, and that he confessed to what happened.
Dockery also reportedly faces charges in other counties.
Around 1:30 p.m. Sept. 12, the Sheriff's Office/Anderson County 911 Communications Center received a call from someone who said a man had shot a woman while stopped on the side of the road in Heiskell. Deputies found the woman, later identified as Mayberry, when they arrived. No other information on Mayberry has been released by law enforcement agencies.
The manhunt
ACSO detectives began searching for Dockery and notified other law enforcement agencies to be on the lookout.
Dockery's car was seen in Claiborne County, and he was pursued by police there into Lee County, Virginia, where he abandoned the car in the Ewing community and escaped into the woods, according to Lee County Sheriff Gary Parsons.
The search for Dockery continued into Sept. 13, with officials closing the county's public schools and the sheriff advising residents to lock their doors and stay inside because the man was considered "armed and extremely dangerous." But at 6:30 p.m. that day, the sheriff updated citizens on Dockery's whereabouts, saying it had been confirmed that he had left Lee County, "but because of the sensitivity of the ongoing investigation no further information can be released at this time."
Multiple law enforcement agencies in Tennessee and Virginia were involved in the search, which ultimately ended in Union County, Tennessee. The U.S. Marshals Service offered a reward of up to $5,000 for information.
The Oak Ridger's News Editor Donna Smith covers Oak Ridge area news. Email her at dsmith@oakridger.com and follow her on Twitter@ridgernewsed.
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This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Knoxville man charged with murder of woman in Anderson County, Tenn.
