One of four men suspected of breaking into a Brookhaven home and fatally shooting the homeowner on Saturday night was killed in a shootout with police near Wesson on Monday afternoon, and the other three have been taken into custody on capital murder charges.
Zaria Antel Newton, 20, of Brookhaven, was shot and killed in her Mason Road NE home when she interrupted a break-in while returning to the house with her boyfriend after they both received alerts from a home security system.
Newton was shot inside the home and died on her way to a hospital.
Shawan “Dodie” Allen, of Brookhaven, was shot and killed on Monday morning in Copiah County near Wesson.
Copiah County Sheriff’s deputies were responding to reports of a carjacking when they caught up with Allen.
He had led authorities on a whirlwind chase throughout the weekend. Allen fled the scene of the murder to the home of his girlfriend in Crystal Springs, according to media reports.
He allegedly forced his 17-year-old girlfriend to drive him to Jackson on Sunday night. On the way, he leapt from the moving vehicle after an off-duty sheriff’s deputy noticed his girlfriend driving erratically and engaged in a pursuit.
Allen then made his way on foot to a nearby home and demanded that the owner give him his car keys. The homeowner said he didn’t know where his keys were, so Jackson took off into the woods.
A manhunt began after the homeowner called police to report what had occurred.
Officers with the Crystal Springs and Brookhaven police departments and the Mississippi Highway Patrol brought in search dogs in their hunt for Allen, but around 2 a.m. Monday the search was called off.
Allen also allegedly stole a Copiah County work truck Sunday night south of Crystal Springs before crashing that vehicle and carjacking at gunpoint a good Samaritan who stopped to check on him, fleeing in that person’s gray 2018 Ford Fusion.
It’s unclear if that’s the automobile Allen was driving when deputies caught up with him Monday.
Allen reportedly shot a sheriff’s deputy during the shootout. The deputy was not seriously injured because he was wearing a bulletproof vest, according to media reports.
Meanwhile another suspect, Justin Anderson, 21, of Natchez, turned himself in Monday night to the Adam’s County Sheriff’s Department.
Jatavious Berry of Brookhaven was arrested on Sunday evening in Brookhaven.
Adrian D. Smith of Brookhaven was arrested by airport police at Jackson-Medger Wiley Evers International Airport on Monday evening, turned over to the U.S. Marshal’s Service and taken to the Lincoln County Jail by Brookhaven police.
Brookhaven Police Chief Kenneth Collins told Jackson television station WAPT that Smith knew Newton and felt remorse for what had taken place. Her boyfriend, J.V. Richardson, was not harmed.
