SOUTHAVEN, Miss. — Investigators say the man who shot two DeSoto County deputies Wednesday night had long record of crimes dating back to the early 1980s and served 11 years of a 30 -year sentence in a Tennessee prison.
Police say 54-year-old Kevin Darnell Washington was killed when he got into a gun fight with the deputies.
Washington is suspected in three armed robberies Wednesday night and several others.
DeSoto County District Attorney John Champion said Washington’s armed crime spree started around 8 p.m. He said Washington robbed a delivery driver in the Colonial Hills subdivision in Southaven. After that he robbed someone outside of the McDonald’s in Horn Lake then made his way to the Horn Lake Home Depot where he robbed someone outside of the store.
Deputies spotted Washington outside of the Kroger off Stateline in Southaven around 9 p.m. Champion believes he was going to rob someone else. When two deputies attempted to arrest him he ran behind a church next to the grocery store and shots were fired.
Investigators think Washington is linked to the robbery and kidnapping of a man from Ardent Studios in midtown Memphis, less than a week ago because they believe he was driving the SUV he stole from the victim.
Washington had an active warrant from Florida at the time he was killed.
“He has 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8, 9…aliases,” said Champion.
WREG found at least 13 cases linked to Washington in the Shelby County court system. We are working to find out more about them.
“He has a very very violent history,” said Champion.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is handling the investigation of the deputy-involved shooting.
Sgt. Hunter Garrett was shot in the foot. and was released early Thursday morning.
Garrett was released early Thursday morning from the hospital.
We’ve learned Garrett has been with the DCSO for six years.
He was featured on WREG last August when we highlighted what he and several other deputies did for a homeless man.
K-9 officer Brandon Lee Hutchens was shot in the chest.
Hutchens has a collapsed lung and is in the ICU now, but is expected to make a full recovery.
We’ve learned Hutchens has been with the force for eight years.
