Mississippi fugitive captured in Kansas

DORRANCE, Kan. -- (WHNT) -- An armed and dangerous fugitive wanted in connection with the murder of his girlfriend and the attempted killing of another woman in Mississippi is now in custody.

Alex Bridges Deaton was captured near Dorrance, Kansas, the Kansas Highway Patrol said Wednesday.

A nationwide manhunt was launched to find Deaton after his girlfriend was found dead last week in Rankin County, Mississippi, near Jackson, and a jogger was shot near the girlfriend's apartment.

He was spotted in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Tuesday night, where he allegedly carjacked a couple there, according to the Rankin County Sheriff's office. The couple was able to escape but the male victim sustained a gunshot wound, the sheriff's office said. He escaped in a Honda passenger car, police said.

Deaton, 28, is also considered a person of interest in a third killing in Mississippi.

Local and federal authorities offered a reward up to $32,500 for information leading to his capture.

Deaton's girlfriend, Heather Robinson, 30, was found dead in her apartment Friday afternoon following a welfare check. Earlier that morning near the apartment, a jogger had called 911 to say she had been shot by a man who was driving a white SUV, believed to belong to Robinson, authorities said. The jogger was shot in the thigh and is expected to recover.

Deaton has been charged with one count of first-degree murder in his girlfriend's death as well as aggravated assault in the jogger's shooting, according to Rankin County District Attorney Michael Guest. He has not been charged in the Neshoba killing.

“The charges may be upgraded to capital murder once we have received the final report from the medical examiner,” Guest told CNN.