A former police officer who was the subject of a massive manhunt for shooting and killing a young Meridian police officer and his pregnant fiancée Brittany Jones was captured in Choctaw County on Friday morning.
Dante Marquez Bender, 31, reportedly shot and killed Officer Kennis Croom and Jones while responding to a domestic violence call at his residence on 51st Avenue in Meridian.
He was reportedly working on his scheduled day off when he responded to the call. Bender was arrested at a convenience store in Acker- man off Highway 15, about 80 miles north of Meridian, after the multi-agency manhunt.
Croom, a Tuscaloosa, Ala., native, had been with MPD for about eight months after previously working for the Jackson Police Department, and Bender had previously worked for the Newton Police Department, according to The Associated Press.
A “Blue Alert” went out to residents on Thursday night, asking them to be on the lookout for the black Nissan Armada that Bender was driving. The large contingent of law enforcement officials came through Jones County on Interstate 59 on Thursday night to escort Croom’s body to the crime lab in Gulfport for an autopsy.
Taylorsville man gets 10 years on meth charge
A Taylorsville man was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, the U.S. Attorney’s Officer reported in a press release. Harold Keyes Jr., 29, and his co-defendants worked together to distribute the drug in April 2020 before being arrested, according to court documents and U.S. Attorney Darren LaMarca and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Brad Byerley.
Agents intercepted meth-related communi- cations occurring in and around a residence in Hattiesburg. Keyes was stopped by Hattiesburg Police Department for a traffic violation and officers discovered more than a kilogram of meth wrapped in three bundles hidden in the front of Keyes’ pants on April 24, 2020.
In addition to the prison sentence, Keyes will have five years of supervised release and was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine. The case is the result of an extensive investigation, dubbed “Don’t Tell on Me Bro,” which began as an operation targeting illegal drug trafficking in the Hattiesburg area. “Don’t Tell on
Me Bro” is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks, according to the press release.
The case was investigated by the DEA, Lamar County Sheriff’s Office, the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, Forrest County Sheriff’s, Columbia Police Department and HPD.
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