Third suspect arrested in death, home invasion|[01/16/08]
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, January 16, 2008
The final suspect in a Dec. 30 home invasion robbery in south Warren County that resulted in a fatal shooting has been found and arrested in Seattle, Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said.
Barry Wallace, 28, who Pace said was from Vicksburg, was picked up by agents with the U.S. Marshal’s Task Force and charged with capital murder. He was captured at about 3 p.m. Tuesday at an acquaintance’s home, Pace said.
Authorities believe Wallace acted with Thomas Lamont Flaggs, 30, 910 Claiborne Ave., David Cornelius Bass, 30, 222 Ferguson St., and 21-year-old Jonathan Bruce, three Jackson men who entered a mobile home at 25 Red Oak Drive with intent to rob the occupants. A teen who lived in the mobile home shot and killed Bruce in apparent self-defense.
Pace said no bond has been set for Wallace, who is awaiting an extradition hearing in Washington today. If Wallace waives the hearing, Pace said the sheriff’s department will take immediate action to return Wallace to Warren County. If not, sheriff’s deputies will go to Washington to testify against Wallace in efforts to bring him back on a governor’s warrant.
Flaggs and Bass were being held in the Warren County Jail under $200,000 bond each. Flaggs was arrested by investigators Jeff Crevitt and Mike Traxler of the Warren County Sheriff’s Department, along with U.S. marshals, at about 4 p.m. Thursday at his home. Bass surrendered at the Warren County Sheriff’s Department Jan. 6.
The adults who lived in the mobile home, Pace said, were roadside vendors. Bruce, Flaggs and Bass had forced their way inside at about 7 p.m. after inquiring about purchasing shoes, authorities said. The adults were not home and the teen and other juveniles told authorities the intruders started bagging up merchandise. The teen, who has not been identified, shot Bruce once with a .410 shotgun. After being wounded, Bruce stumbled onto the lawn, where he was found dead when deputies arrived. The three other men fled in a white 2007 Hyundai Sonata, which had no tag.
That car was found abandoned in Jackson Thursday and brought to the Warren County Sheriff’s Department for forensic evidence, Pace said.
He has said the investigation details will be presented to the district attorney, but it appeared the teen’s action — Warren County’s only shooting death of 2007 — will be deemed justifiable.
Flaggs and Bass also face armed robbery charges with the capital murder charges pending under a legal theory that participants in a violent crime, even if they didn’t intend for an accomplice to be killed, can be held responsible.