Jones County murder suspect arrested in Louisiana

JONES COUNTY, Miss. (WDAM) - A man wanted for first-degree murder and aggravated assault in Jones County is in custody after being arrested in Morgan City, La. early Friday morning.

Officials with the Morgan City Police Department said Jose Angel Melendez-Davila was captured just before 5 a.m. by U.S. Marshals and deputies with the St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Maj. Jamie Tedford, with the Jones County Sheriff’s Office, said Melendez-Davila, 33, was wanted for a Thursday morning shooting that left one man dead and a woman in critical condition.

According to investigators, the shooting happened at a home on Toombs Road around 1:35 a.m. Thursday. Tedford said Melendez-Davila was the boyfriend of the woman he shot and the man killed was her son.

Tedford said when deputies arrived on the scene, Melendez-Davila was gone, but witnesses identified him as the alleged shooter and gave a description of the vehicle he was driving. That vehicle was found abandoned behind a business on 15th Avenue in Laurel.

Tedford said Melendez-Davila was considered armed and dangerous while on the run. The sheriff’s office requested help from the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force to find Melendez-Davila.

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