National manhunt on for Rankin, Neshoba shooting suspect
A Rankin County man for whom a nationwide "Be on the Lookout" alert has been issued is also a person of interest in the death of a woman found shot in a Neshoba County church Thursday.
Alex Bridges Deaton, 28, is wanted in the shooting of a jogger early Friday morning and is believed to be connected to the death of his girlfriend, 30-year-old Heather Robinson. According to a release from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, Deaton is wanted for aggravated assault and murder.
Robinson's body was found inside her home at the Vineyards Apartments near the Castlewoods subdivision in Rankin County on Friday after the sheriff's department received a request for a welfare check. A deputy and a family member entered the home and found her, according to Sheriff Bryan Bailey.
Around 5 a.m. Friday, a jogger in the area had been shot by a white male with facial hair. She told police he had shot her out the driver's window of a small white SUV.
Robinson's white 2012 GMC Arcadia SUV was missing when her body was found.
Law enforcement sources say Deaton, who has family in the Dixon community of Neshoba County, is also being looked at as a person of interest in the Thursday evening shooting of Brenda Strickland Pinter, 69, who was found inside the office of Dixon Baptist Church.
Sheriff Tommy Waddell said he has been in contact with Rankin County authorities about the case.
Pinter had gone to the church to clean it, and her husband went looking for her when she did not come home on time. Waddell said there had been a white SUV in the church parking lot shortly after Pinter arrived there, and it left a few minutes after it arrived.
Waddell said authorities have evidence that the SUV came south from Philadelphia on Mississippi 21 and when it left, it continued south on 21.
At this point, authorities said, they have not found a connection between Deaton and Pinter, nor Deaton and the church. Nothing was missing from the church, and Pinter's purse was still on the front seat of her car.
Deaton is on the run, officials said, and they have issued a national BOLO for him. They believe he could still be driving Robinson's Acadia, bearing Mississippi Nurses Foundation tag number F396 NF.
Bailey said Deaton is considered armed and very dangerous.
Authorities have released several photos of Deaton at different weights through the years. He is a white male, 5-foot, 9-inches, 170 pounds with hazel eyes and brown hair.
If anyone comes in contact with Deaton they should not attempt to engage him but contact authorities via 911, the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department at 601-825-1480, Crime Stoppers 601-355-8477, or Crime Stoppers on-line at www.P3tips.com.
Crime Stoppers is offering a $2,500.00 reward for information leading to the arrest of Deaton.
Contact Therese Apel at 601-961-7236 or tapel@gannett.com . Follow her on Facebook and Twitter .