An Oktibbeha County grand jury has indicted suspects in the 1990 Labor Day murders and a fatal car accident on Lampkin Street last spring.
Michael Devaughan, 51, of Rienzi, is charged with one count each of capital murder and sexual battery after being arrested in October for the 1990 killings of 65-year-old Betty Jones and 81-year-old Kathryn Crigler. Jones and Crigler were at Crigler’s home on Highway 82 East on Sept. 3, 1990, when Devaughan allegedly broke into the home, stabbed Jones to death and sexually assaulted Crigler.
Crigler was hospitalized and later died of her injuries.
Devaughan’s arrest was the first break in the 28-year-old case.
Jimmy Andrew Sims, 62, was also indicted for culpable negligence manslaughter.
Sims was arrested after a March 12 four-vehicle crash on Lampkin Street resulted in the death of 47-year-old Tonya Graham. A resident of Cedarbluff in Clay County, Graham died the day after the crash at North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo.
According to Sims’ indictment, he negligently maintained or failed to maintain his vehicle in the crash. The indictment also said he was driving at speeds of up to 93 miles per hour along East Lampkin Street before his collision with Graham near the Montgomery Street intersection.
An affidavit released after Sims’ arrest also said the vehicle was “previously known to be faulty.”
Three other people, including a juvenile, were hospitalized after the crash and released after treatment. Three of the four vehicles in the crash were occupied.
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