ALCORN COUNTY, Miss. — There was an arrest tonight in a double murder in Alcorn County.
Deputies have charged 24-year old Michael Meeks with two counts of capital murder in the shootings deaths of Jeanette Gray and Archie Wayne Williams.
Meeks was arrested in Alabama after dumping Gray’s pickup truck.
He also had a 22-caliber pistol in his possession.
People who live in the Rockhill Community Northeast of Corinth were shaken up by the brutal and senseless crime.
“We’d like to know why it happened or what actually happened, you know. She was a good lady. She was a friendly person,” said one woman who didn’t want to be identified.
She told WREG she lives close to where Gray and Williams were found dead.
Alcorn County Investigators swarmed Gray’s house Saturday, Northeast of Corinth on County Road 171.
The concerned neighbor said she would wave at Gray when she walked in the area.
“Just quiet, pretty much kept to herself. But she’d say hello,” the woman told WREG.
The violent deaths have cast a shadow over the usually quiet community.
“It makes feel that I’m not very safe here. You’re out in the county, it’s supposed to be nice and peaceful,” the concerned woman told WREG.
Two of Gray’s children were at the home Tuesday but didn’t want to talk on camera.
They told us their focus right now is on making funeral arrangements for their mother.
They said their mother had a casual relationship with Williams.
They described Meeks as a family acquaintance who had been to the home on more than one occasion.
Alcorn County Investigators have not released a motive for the murders but say the bodies were discovered Saturday afternoon.
Wayne Hill lives a few streets over from where the victims were found.
“So close to home! See, we haven’t had much trouble back in here,” said Hill.
Hill said since hearing about the murders, he’s wondered if his neighborhood is safe.
“You always wonder, ‘am I safe enough, am I secure enough.’ You never know,” he said.
Virginia Hill said the tragedy was just too hard to believe.
“We’re just not used to that around here,” she said.
Meeks is being held without bond in the Alcorn County Jail.
It’s unknown when his next court appearance will be.
