Local lawmen on Friday captured a notorious fugitive from Hinds County who had been on the run from U.S. Marshals since he allegedly kidnapped his wife and killed her uncle on Oct. 9.
Michael Wright, 37, had been sought in connection with two murders and two kidnappings. He had been freed on bond when the most recent crimes he is accused of committing took place.
Pike County deputies, along with McComb police officers, surrounded Wright and took him into custody without incident around 10:30 a.m. near the corner of Sixth Street and Nebraska Avenue, where he was cutting grass.
Pike County Sheriff Mark Shepherd said his department earlier that morning received a tip that Wright was living at the St. Andrew’s Mission house in McComb.
St. Andrew’s Mission Clinic Director Joy Teruel revealed herself as the tipster.
“Several things didn’t add up with him,” she said.
“I got suspicious of him Monday morning because he had no I.D., no Social Security number and said his name was John Matthew,” Teruel said. “We asked for references. He had no references at all.
“How can you have no references? How can you have absolutely no form of I.D. and no Social?” Teruel said while holding up a form that Wright was asked to fill out when he arrived at the mission center last Sunday. He had written “N/A” in nearly every space on the form.
Her suspicions grew when Wright asked if she was going to kick him out.
“I told him he had three days to go get an I.D. He didn’t like that at all,” she said. “I could tell he was getting angry.”
When another employee pointed out a news story that contained a photo of Wright, Teruel said she immediately recognized him and called her friend Brian Boyd, a Pike County sheriff’s investigator.
Chief Deputy Steve Rushing said his office then contacted McComb police to coordinate a plan to capture Wright.
The mission sent Wright to mow the lawn as part of a requirement to do work in order to stay at the house. When the lawmen surrounded the area and closed in on the fugitive, Wright quickly surrendered, Rushing said.
Deputies booked him in the Pike County jail, and he was later extradited to Hinds County.
Shortly before his capture, Bill Alright, owner of Alright Bonding, posted a $5,000 reward for Wright’s arrest.
When asked Friday, Teruel said she was unaware of any reward, but Alright eventually contacted her.
Alright said the money will be split between Teruel and another St. Andrew’s employee.
Wright allegedly shot and killed 55-year-old Jerry Brent on Oct. 9 at Brent’s Utica home. He then kidnapped Brent’s niece, 32-year-old Sharice Latham, who is also Wright’s wife. Latham later escaped.
The Oct. 9 incident occurred while Wright was out on a $500,000 bond for the December 2012 abduction and slaying of his then-girlfriend Cera Cannon.
Wright allegedly abducted Cannon and drove her 150 miles from Jackson to Batesville. Her body was found on a rural Panola County property on Christmas Eve — the same property owned by Wright’s family and used as collateral for his bond.
Alright said he reluctantly agreed to bond Wright because he had known his father.
“I was so happy when I found out he was caught,” he said. “I think it was just a matter of time before he killed someone else or hurt someone else.”
“They were blessed,” Alright said Saturday, referring to Teruel and her co-worker. “The good Lord was watching over them yesterday.”
