Jackson triple homicide suspects arrested in KS; charged with 3 counts capital murder

JACKSON, Miss. -- (WDAM) -- Two suspects wanted for a triple homicide at a Jackson pawn shop have been arrested in Kansas.

Jackson police say that 31-year-old Jamieson Layne Townsend and 35-year-old Joshua Garcia are being charged with three counts of capital murder and one count of armed robbery of a business. They both face extradition from Junction City, Kansas.

Authorities say that Townsend and Garcia were arrested in Geary County, Kansas at midnight Wednesday. According to Sheriff Tony Wolf, a deputy conducted a traffic stop on a Dodge Charger, for no registration displayed, at I-70 mile post 311.

Just as contact was made with the driver, the vehicle sped away westbound on I-70.

The deputy chased the car as it exited at mile marker 306. Sheriff Wolf says the car wrecked at a dead end and the driver took off on foot.

Deputies set up a perimeter and searched the area, as well as farm steads and outbuildings. At 7 a.m., while searching the area around the McDowell Creek community center, which is roughly a mile from the scene of the crash, Garcia was found hiding in the back seat of a vehicle and was taken into custody.

The female passenger, that had remained in the car, was later identified as Townsend, of Blue Springs Missouri, and the driver identified as Garcia of Biloxi.

Geary County Sheriff's deputies discovered that the two were suspects in a string of pawn shop burglaries and robberies in Mississippi, as well as suspects in the triple homicide robbery of a Jackson pawn shop.

The victims in the triple homicide are 81-year-old Cleveland "Bill" Mosley, the owner of the business, 60-year-old Robert Ivy and 77-year-old Ted McLemore.

The suspects are being held at the Geary County Detention Center pending further investigation.

Pascagoula Police Lt. Doug Adams said the two suspects were spotted in a red Dodge Charger in Tennessee, between Chattanooga and Murfreesboro, on Monday night.