JACKSON, Miss. — Two people wanted on murder charges in a deadly Georgia shooting were arrested in Mississippi on Monday night after they allegedly robbed a McDonald’s drive-thru at gunpoint, stole an SUV and led authorities on a chase.
Jaylen Benton, 18, of Ellerslie, and Sharae Threadgill, 21, of Stone Mountain, are also suspected in other armed robberies across Alabama and Mississippi, according to police in Brandon, Mississippi, an eastern suburb of Jackson.
Benton and Threadgill had been on the run since early Sunday morning, when authorities said they were involved in a botched armed robbery in Columbus, Georgia, in which 20-year-old Phillip Whitaker was killed, Columbus police Sgt. Jeff Kraus said.
Whitaker was found shot to death in the passenger seat of a pickup truck on Wynnton Road in east Columbus just before 2 a.m. Sunday.
Investigators believe Whitaker was shot during the attempted robbery at an apartment complex on University Place.
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Benton and Threadgill were identified as suspects in his death, Kraus said.
Less than 48 hours later, the duo allegedly robbed a McDonald’s near I-20 in Brandon.
According to police in that city, two people in a gold Chevrolet Impala pulled up to the drive-thru window just after 9:30 a.m. Monday.
“One of the suspects entered the business through the (drive-thru) window carrying two handguns,” Brandon police said on Facebook. “The suspects then took a very small amount of money from one of the registers and fled the business.”
The Impala was last seen headed west on I-20.
Investigators later learned that the same duo were suspected in armed robberies in Demopolis, Alabama, and Meridian, Mississippi, police said. Officers were still processing the scene at the McDonald’s when they got a call that authorities in nearby Warren County were in pursuit after the robbery suspects were seen jumping out of the Impala and into a Chevy Tahoe.
Benton and Threadgill are accused of stealing the Tahoe with two women still inside, The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson reported. Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace told reporters at a news conference Tuesday one of the women was forced to drive while deputies pursued them down U.S. 61. Shots were fired at the deputies during the initial pursuit, he said.
Pace said the driver made a “lifesaving decision” to slam on the Tahoe’s brakes and jump out, and the other hostage followed suit, The Clarion-Ledger reported. Deputies took Benton and Threadgill into custody at 11:15 p.m. Monday when the vehicle ran out of gas and slowed to a stop.
“We believe at this time that the suspects involved in this pursuit are the same ones that robbed the McDonald’s in Brandon,” Brandon police said.
This evening at 9:33 PM the Brandon Police Department received a 911 call regarding an armed robbery at the McDonalds...
Posted by Brandon Police Department on Monday, March 25, 2019
Benton and Threadgill are being held without bond in the Warren County Jail on various charges.
“They are currently under investigation by multiple agencies in multiple jurisdictions for additional crimes and additional charges are likely in Columbus and in other locations,” Kraus said.
Federal authorities are also investigating, according to Brandon police.
This article was written by Chelsea Prince, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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