Teen charged with third shooting, second murder in eight months

Published 9:28 pm Tuesday, December 18, 2018

TUPELO (AP) — A Northeast Mississippi teen is jailed after officials arrested him for the drive-by shooting death of a 66-year-old woman.

Lee County Sheriff Jim Johnson tells news outlets 17-year-old Latavious Betts is charged as an adult with murder and aggravated assault in Annie Walton’s Dec. 7 death.

Johnson says Betts fired a dozen or more shots into a house near Verona, killing Walton and wounding four others.

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Betts was earlier charged with first-degree murder for a March 22 shooting at a Verona car wash. He’s also charged with aggravated assault in a July 8 convenience store shooting that injured two.

The teen is jailed without bail because he’s accused of violating previous release terms. It’s unclear if he has a lawyer. Betts was captured Friday after a week on the run.