Report: Two murder suspects denied bond in case of anchored body found at bottom of pond

Published 9:53 am Wednesday, February 26, 2020

Two of the nine people charged in connection to a body discovered anchored to the bottom of a Mississippi farm pond have been denied bond, a regional TV station reported.

WTOK-TV reports that suspects James Kelly and Tyrone Baxter were denied bond earlier this week. The pair are charged with capital murder and kidnapping in the case of a body found at weighted down in the farm pond in the Hope community of Neshoba County.

The pair are among nine people charged in the case.

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Sheriff’s investigators found the body when executing a search warrant to drain a pond, meaning they had reason to believe evidence was in the pond to begin with.

Although investigators haven’t released the possible identity of the body, sheriff’s deputies have indicated they believe they know the identify, but are waiting crime lab results to be certain.

In addition to Kelly and Baxter, others charged include:

  • Joanna Brook Gilmer and Alexandria Bell have been charged with conspiracy to commit capital murder.
  • Three people were charged with hindering prosecution-rendering criminal assistance: Terry Crocker, Alexa Johnson and Tyree Smith.
  • Two people, Justus Barfield and Ian C. Thompson, were charged with being an accessory after the fact.