EMPORIA, Va. - Police shocked the mother of a man murdered on Valentine’s Day when they told her a 15-year-old boy, who she said mourned with her, had been arrested for the crime, according to WTVR.

Police said 20-year-old Jaquan Crumpler was found shot to death in his bedroom at around 9:30 p.m. Feb. 14.

Officials said days of investigating and interviewing some of the same friends over and over developed enough probable cause for a search warrant.

Emporia Police arrested a 15-year-old boy for first-degree murder Thursday night.

Police say Steven Baylark was found dead in the doorway of his home Friday morning, and Derian Troope is responsible.

WREG went along as officers tried to track him down. The search for Troope started on Walnut Street.

"We are going to do whatever we need to bring this guy into custody," Helena-West Helena Police Chief James Smith said. "Mr. Baylark was a great guy in the community. He tried to help everybody."

Police say Troope didn't work alone. They've already arrested Latasha Thrift and Christopher Mayfield for playing a part in the murder. Neither one of them were thrilled to see us as investigators walked them inside to talk.

"We think these individuals believed Mr. Baylark had come into a large sum of money and attempted to rob him," Chief Smith said.

Police say Baylark was left lying in his doorway from around 11 p.m. Thursday until just before 9 a.m. on Friday. That's when a relative finally found him and called 911.

Investigators say the suspects were Baylark's neighbors.

Investigators looked high and low for Troope, but they didn't have any luck on Walnut Street.

"We are not going to rest. We have several officers and other outside agents helping us," Chief Smith said. "We are going to capture this individual and bring him to justice."

Police say Troope might was well turn himself in because they will find him.

Thrift is charged with capital murder and aggravated robbery.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A 39-year-old man pleaded guilty Monday to second-degree murder in the 2016 gang-related killing of another man outside of an airport-area adult club, Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich said.

Defendant Freddy Yarbor was sentenced to 15 years in prison without the possibility for parole. He also pleaded guilty to being a convicted felon in possession of a handgun and was sentenced to eight years. The sentences are to be served concurrently.

The shooting occurred around 3:15 a.m. on Aug. 20, 2016, outside of Kitten’s Kabaret at 2882 Lamb Place near Democrat Road and Tchulahoma Road.

The victim, Jeromee White, 20, was shot multiple times when he approached a vehicle that had pulled up with Yarbor in the front passenger seat. As White got close, Yarbor began firing at him, leaving him dead in the parking lot of the club which is now closed.

A codefendant, Augusto Maceo-Columbie, 30, was indicted on charges of facilitation to commit first-degree murder. His case is pending.

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — A Fort Campbell soldier has admitted to having his ex-wife killed and to helping hide her body.

The Leaf-Chronicle reports Sgt. Jamal Williams-McCray entered into a plea agreement during a hearing Wednesday at the Army post on the Kentucky-Tennessee state line. Williams-McCray pleaded guilty to charges including premeditated murder in the death of Pfc. Shadow McClaine. In exchange, he won’t face the death penalty.

Another soldier, Spc. Charles Robinson III, pleaded guilty previously to charges including murder in the case and was sentenced to 25 years. Robinson said McClaine’s ex-husband offered to pay him $10,000 to kill her and help hide the body.

McClaine disappeared in September 2016. Her remains were found the following January and flown home to Yuba City, California.

McClaine’s mother, London Wegrzyn, says the family is “glad we are getting justice finally.”

MEMPHIS, Tenn. —  A second suspect has been arrested in connection to a robbery and deadly shooting in Whithaven.

On February 25, officers found Kordedris Overton suffering from multiple gunshot wounds in the 4300 block of Graceland. He was taken to the Regional Medical Center where he later died.

A witness told police that prior to the shooting Overton had agreed to give a man named Dontavious Whitfield a ride home. It appears something happened while they were traveling and Overton stopped the car on Graceland. The witness said he and Whitfield then got out of the car, and that’s when the defendant pulled out a gun and demanded he hand over his cellphone.

While this was happening, police said Overton tried to flee the scene in the car. The witness said a second gunman opened fire on Overton, causing him to crash into a fence down the street.

Whitfield was arrested last week and reportedly named his co-defendant as Courdarrius Perkins. Police said Perkins admitted to planning and participating in the robbery.

CORINTH, Miss. — A northeast Mississippi man will serve 38 years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of second-degree murder in the 2015 killing of a couple.

Local news outlets report 28-year-old Michael Lee Meeks entered the guilty pleas Thursday before Alcorn County Circuit Judge John White.

Meeks shot Archie “Wayne” Williams and Jeanette Martha Gray and then stole Gray’s truck. Meeks is also pleading guilty to grand larceny for stealing the truck. He’s getting 33 years for the murders and five years for the theft.

Prosecutors reduced the charges from first-degree murder in exchange for the pleas.

Meeks is also serving the remainder of an eight-year sentence for a separate conviction for shooting into an occupied dwelling. He was on probation for that conviction at the time of his arrest.

WEST MEMPHIS, Ark. — A West Memphis family is grieving after their loved one was shot to death Sunday morning, and it’s not the first family member they’ve lost to gun violence.

West Memphis Police are looking for the person(s) responsible for shooting Basha Thomas, 24.

“It really shocked me," said Thomas' cousin who didn't want his name published.

Thomas’ family members say they can’t believe he’s gone.

“He just liked to chill. He was a calm person. He didn’t mess with nobody.”

Police say the 24-year-old was shot and killed in his car in West Memphis around six in the morning.

“I’m just hearing like five or six shots, so me I’m just looking and jump out and look out the window but I didn’t see anyone running or anything like that," said neighbor Calenesi Barringer.

Family says Thomas was shot at nearly a dozen times in the Imperial Homes apartment complex.

“Sad and disturbing, you know it’s close to home," said neighbor Hannah Horns.

Horns saw the aftermath of police and yellow tape. She says she watched the coroner arrive and Thomas' car, riddled with bullets, get towed away.

“All that shooting, I mean anybody could’ve gotten a bullet," she said.

Friends of Thomas say he was in the U.S. Army and a nice guy.

It’s not clear why he was at the apartment complex, but his cousin says family lives there.

“I feel bad what happened to him. I’m sorry. It hurts me," said his cousin.

Making matters more tragic, Thomas’ 15-year-old sister, Jordyne Craig, was shot and killed last year in West Memphis while walking home from the store. A man was arrested for that crime soon after.

“We’ve lost a lot of folks," said Thomas' cousin. “I just want to say rest in peace to him.”

We don’t have any suspect or motive information at this time.

Anyone with any information regarding this shooting is asked to call Crittenden County Crime Stoppers at (870)-732-4444.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A fugitive accused of killing another man in a Memphis warehouse last year was captured Tuesday at a house in Frayser, the U.S. Marshals said.

Timothy Wilkins, 46, was shot and killed in a warehouse in the 4600 block of Damascus on Sept. 13, 2018.

A warrant was issued Oct. 12 for the arrest of Garrick Rose on charges of first-degree murder and employment of a weapon during the commission of a dangerous felony.

Investigators tracked Rose to a house at the 2800 block of Raja, where he was taken into custody there. Rose was taken to the Shelby County Jail without incident, marshals said.

According to police, Rose and Wilkins had been involved in an argument before Wilkins was shot multiple times. The 46-year-old was pronounced dead on the scene.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Five people have been charged in connection with a shooting that killed a man and injured a woman in Hardeman County.

Deon Edward Turner was killed and a woman was injured Friday in a shooting in the 700 block of Britts Chapel Lane in Middleton.

Investigators with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said Tuesday that Kaci Bercham, Terry Martindale, Michael Mayfield, Betty Sparks and Steven Sparks were responsible for the crime.

On Monday, law enforcement officers charged Bercham, Martindale, Mayfield, Betty Sparks and Steven Sparks with one count each of first-degree murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, aggravated assault, especially aggravated burglary, especially aggravated robbery, attempted criminal Homicide, criminal homicide, and attempted first-degree murder, TBI said.

All five are currently in the Hardeman County Jail.  No bonds have been set.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Southaven man wanted in connection to a deadly shooting in Olive Branch has been taken into custody.

Authorities told WREG Tyease Kiosh Lofton was arrested on Wednesday and taken to the Desoto County Jail. His bond was set at $999,999.

According to the Olive Branch Police Department, the shooting happened in the 9700 block of Goodman Road on March 22. Officers responded to the scene around 11:40 p.m.

They identified the victim as Bryan Harris of Horn Lake, Mississippi. Officers found Harris lying in a parking lot of a business with a gunshot wound to the chest. Harris was taken to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

According to police, Harris was arguing with several people in the parking lot when someone fired several shots at him.

Police identified the shooter as Lofton and issued a warrant for his arrest shortly after the incident.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. —  A man was automatically sentenced to life in prison in the deaths of a pregnant woman and her significant other on Friday.

Juvonta Carpenter was convicted by a jury on two counts of premeditated first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree murder in the perpetration of a robbery and aggravated robbery.

Sentencing for the robbery counts will be held later this month.

According to authorities, Carpenter and at least one other man approached the couple’s Haven Court home in Whitehaven and knocked on the door during the early morning hours of January 9, 2016. When Joe Fifer opened the door, the two men rushed in and began shooting.

Fifer and Tamara Davis, who was pregnant at the time, were both killed.

Another suspect, Gerald Shields, 28, will be in court later this month as well.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Supporters of a Tennessee death row inmate appealed to Gov. Bill Lee’s Christian faith Wednesday, requesting clemency for a prisoner they say was redeemed by Jesus.

Don Johnson’s clemency petition includes a plea from Cynthia Vaughn, the daughter of the woman Johnson was convicted of killing. Vaughn is also Johnson’s stepdaughter.

The petition quotes from Vaughn’s own letter to the governor in which she describes visiting Johnson in prison in 2012 after not seeing him since she was a little girl.

Vaughn said she vented three decades of anger and pain on Johnson, telling him how it felt not to have her mother around when she graduated from high school, got married and had a baby.

“The next thing that came out of my mouth changed my life forever,” she wrote. “I looked at him, told him I couldn’t keep hating him because it was doing nothing but killing me instead of him, and then I said, ‘I forgive you.’”

In the petition, Vaughn asks to meet with Lee and share her story in person.

The petition also emphasizes Johnson’s conversion from “a liar, a cheat, a con man and a murderer” to a Seventh Day Adventist Church elder who ministers to other prisoners.

Johnson, 68, was convicted of murdering his wife Connie Johnson in 1984 by suffocating her in a Memphis camping center that he managed. He initially blamed the murder on a work-release inmate who confessed to helping dispose of the body and was granted immunity for testifying against Johnson, according to court documents.

Above: WREG covered the Donnie Johnson murder case in 1985.

At a news conference Wednesday announcing the clemency campaign, Pastor Furman Fordham, explained that Johnson’s journey to becoming ordained as an elder at the Riverside Seventh Day Adventist Church while serving time on death row began when a now-deceased church member started a Bible study with Johnson 30 years ago.

When Fordham came to Nashville in 2006 to lead Riverside, he met Johnson in prison and was amazed to see an inmate leading a religious service.

He later met an ex-prisoner who had studied the Bible with Johnson.

“It said to me that Don’s ministry was moving full circle,” Fordham said.

The petition makes no claim of innocence, instead saying Johnson was “justly convicted of the murder of his wife.”

It details the abuse Johnson suffered as a child at the hands of his own stepfather and later in juvenile detention centers, but it says Johnson “does not place blame for his failure of character on anyone but himself.”

The petition includes excerpts from other letters sent to the governor by people who came to know Johnson through their prison ministry, volunteer work, mentoring and correspondence.

“These friends and supporters are adamant that Don’s faith is strong, and his reformation is real,” it reads. Many of the excerpts mention Johnson’s ministry to other prisoners. He also has a ministry outside of prison through a radio and internet show that plays recordings he has made on Sunday mornings on WNAH-1360 AM, according to the petition.

Tennessee executed three inmates in 2018 after a nine-year hiatus, during which legal challenges to the state’s lethal injection protocols put all executions on hold. Johnson’s execution, scheduled May 16, is one of four planned in 2019.

Lee, who took office in January, made his Christian faith a central component of his campaign. Previously asked about the four pending executions, Lee said they would be difficult decisions.

“The death penalty is the law in Tennessee, and I believe that it’s an appropriate law in the most egregious of cases,” he said. “But I think we have to look at each case individually, and we’ll do so when it’s the right time.”

Kelley Henry, an assistant federal public defender, also attended the news conference Wednesday. She said the clemency petition is Johnson’s last chance to avoid execution because he doesn’t want to pursue any further legal challenges.

She said Johnson told her Wednesday he that he accepts God’s will, “but he doesn’t feel his work on earth is done yet.”

In 2010, another Tennessee death row inmate with a similar story of redemption and forgiveness had her sentence commuted by then-Gov. Phil Bredesen. Gaile Owens was convicted of hiring a hit man to murder her husband. She later reconciled with their son Stephen Owens, who publicly pleaded with the governor for mercy.

Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church announced that Pastor Brodes Perry had died Friday, but didn’t specify how he died.

Collierville police have charged Latoshia Daniels with first-degree murder, in addition to attempted murder and other charges, but have not released the victims' names.

The Commercial Appeal is reporting that sources have confirmed Daniels was charged in connection with the shooting.

Online, Daniels uses the title “Dr.” and describes herself as a social worker and certified anger management specialist.

A business filing with the state of Arkansas lists her as an officer at a company called The Root Behavioral Health in Little Rock.

It appears it was in Little Rock that Daniels met Perry, who until recently, worked at St. Mark Baptist Church there.

At Mississippi Boulevard, Perry oversaw the couples and discipleship ministries, according to the church’s website.

Perry and his wife, who are originally from Florida, had been married for a little more than five years. Records show he had previously married in 2006.

In a statement, the church describes Perry as a “phenomenal man, dedicated to the kingdom of God.”

Police didn’t specify what Daniels’ motive was.

According to police, officers were called to the Meridian Place Apartments in Collierville on Thursday after receiving calls from residents stating they had heard multiple gunshots and screams.

When they arrived they found Brodes Perry, executive pastor at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church, and his wife suffering from gunshot wounds.

Authorities said the shooter, Latoshia Daniels, was still armed and refused to put down the gun.

The female victim told police Daniels showed up at her home unexpectedly the night of the shooting. Having known her from her time living in Little Rock, she  agreed to let her inside the home.

She was escorting Daniels back out when the suspect pulled a handgun and started shooting, screaming "You broke my heart" at the husband, according to a court affidavit.

A police report says his wife knelt by him and Daniels told her to get out of the way, then shot her in the left shoulder.

Perry’s wife told police she didn’t know of any affair taking place between the two but Daniels actions made that seem to be a possibility.

Both victims were taken to the Regional Medical Center where Brodes Perry later died.

While at the hospital, police said Daniels also attacked an officer. Police said the officer was trying to take her into custody and that's when she jerked away and shoved him before taking off running. Officers said they had to force her to the ground before they could get her handcuffed.

Daniels was charged with first degree murder, attempt first degree murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, assault on a police officer and resisting arrest.

She is being held without bond and will be in court Tuesday morning.

COLLIERVILLE, Tenn. — The attorney for the woman charged with shooting and killing a Collierville pastor entered a plea of not guilty on her behalf Tuesday.

Attorney Leslie Ballin said Latoshia Daniels didn’t appear in court Tuesday due to logistics, but he said his client was not guilty.

“We’ve entered a not guilty plea. We mean it,” Ballin said.

Daniels is accused of coming from Little Rock to Brodes Perry’s Collierville apartment and shooting him several times while saying, “You broke my heart.”

Police say she then shot Perry’s wife in the shoulder after she knelt beside him. Daniels is also accused of running from police and assaulting an officer after being taken to the hospital.

The 39-year-old describes herself online as a social worker and certified anger management specialist.

She is charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder, assaulting an officer and resisting arrest. There’s no bail set for her, but her attorneys said they may ask for bail at the next hearing.

The three all reportedly knew each other from when the Perrys lived in Little Rock.

“This family is not used to this kind of trouble," Ballin said.

An affidavit mentioned the possibility of an affair between Daniels and Perry, who was an executive pastor at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church.

The church described him as a phenomenal man who will be missed by all.

Ballin says this reminds him of the case of Mary Winkler, who was convicted of voluntary manslaughter after shooting and killing her husband while he was lying in bed more than a decade ago.

She told police she was abused by her husband, who was a minister.

Daniels' next hearing is scheduled for April 23.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Police in West Memphis, Arkansas say both suspects wanted in a concert shooting that killed two people have been arrested.

Raheem Stackhouse was taken into custody just after midnight Saturday, police reported. U.S. Marshals, the ATF and Crittenden County deputies assisted in his capture.

Stackhouse is charged with two counts of first-degree murder.

Another man, Reginald Smith, was also listed as wanted in the shooting. He was taken into custody Sunday afternoon after turning himself in.

The shooting happened in the early morning hours of April 6 at a concert for Memphis rapper Kevo Money at 2nd Chance Automotive Repair and Body Work on East Broadway. The auto shop doubled as a nightclub.

Police still haven’t released the victims’ names, but a witness identified one as Nathaniel Henderson, who went by Kingboohead Henderson, and loved ones on social media identified the second victim as JuWuan McClendon, who was known as Wuan Hunned.

West Memphis Police have offered a $2,000 reward for information in this case, another deadly shooting on Oxford Street the same night, and the death of a teenager killed Friday morning while playing video games at his grandmother’s house.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Authorities have made an arrest after a man was found unresponsive on Easter Sunday.

According to reports, first responders were called to the 100 block of Utah in South Memphis after receiving reports that a man named Lee Ng had been found dead. His roommate, Robert Earl Junior, told police up front that he was inside the home around the time of death.

A subsequent autopsy revealed that Ng had been strangled and the death was ruled a homicide.

Earl was arrested and charged with second degree murder. He also reportedly admitted to physically assaulting the victim at that time.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. —A Memphis man was arrested this week and faces deportation after police say he beat a four-month-old to death upon learning the child wasn't his.

On April 12, the mother called dispatch saying the infant was having difficulties breathing. She called 911 and then began administering CPR. The victim was then rushed to Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in extremely critical condition, where he later died.

The Shelby County Medical Examiner ruled the child's death a homicide, saying he had sustained injuries consistent with blunt force trauma, including a fractured skull, fractured ribs and a serious case of pneumonia.

Several days later, the mother returned to the police department claiming that a man had confessed to her that he had killed the child.

He reportedly stated he believed himself to be the child's father, but after the child's birth discovered that was not the case.

He struck the child multiple times in the head, killing him, police said.

The man, identified by local authorities as Jose Agurcia-Avila, was charged with first-degree murder in perpetration of aggravated child abuse and first-degree murder in perpetration of aggravated child neglect.

However, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement later said that name was an alias — the man's real name is Carlos Zuniga-Aviles, and his identity was confirmed through biometrics. They said he is a Honduran national in the country illegally, and he has been removed from the country five previous times.

Through a translator, an acquaintance of the mother who was at the apartment Wednesday said she was there when the mother got the heart-wrenching news.

“She pretty much touched the kid and told her that the kid was dead, and she ... became crazy," the woman said. “(She) was crying. She never thought this could happen to her because her kid was healthy.”

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The man accused of beating a child to death because he found out he wasn’t the father made his first appearance in court Thursday, but this wasn't his first time in trouble with the law.

Carlos Zuniga-Aviles, originally from Honduras and in the U.S. illegally, has been deported from the United States five times. His most recent deportation was in 2016 after he was arrested in Salt Lake City, Utah. Police say he was selling heroin and cocaine.

The 33-year-old is now being held in Memphis without bond on charges of first-degree murder.