Two persons of interest were taken into custody on Saturday morning in connection with the double homicide in Conehatta that left a woman from Union and another from Sebastopol dead on March 4.
Newton County Sheriff Joedy Pennington said Saturday Austin Harrell and Shaunna Reynolds were both taken into custody from a residence on School Street in Newton Saturday morning. Pennington said no charges have been filed, but investigators were questioning the two persons.
Pennington confirmed Tuesday morning that the suspects are still in custody on other charges. Reynolds was charged possession of drug paraphernalia according to the jail docket.
Pennington was not able to confirm the charges Harrell is facing, but he did confirm they are still in custody.
The Mississippi Department of Public Safety posted on Facebook Friday night that they were seeking the whereabouts of Harrell and Reynolds. DPS indicated that Harrell was a person of interest in a double homicide that occurred in Newton County, Mississippi, on March 4 in which 26-year-old Breanna Strickland Stokes of Union and 21-year-old Kaitlyn Goolsby of Sebastopol were found dead.
Pennington was not able to release any additional details at this time. Anyone with information regarding this incident is encouraged to call the Newton County Sheriff’s Department at 601-635-4401, the Choctaw Police Department at 601-656-5711 or the FBI at 601-948-5000.
Funeral services for Strickland Stokes are being handled by Newton County Funeral Home. A Celebration of Life began at 2 p.m. Tuesday, March 15, at Newton County Funeral Home, South Chapel.
Milling Funeral Home handled the arrangements for Goolsby. Graveside services for Ms. Kaitlyn Goolsby, 21, of Sebastopol, were held 2 p.m. March 10 at Damascus Cemetery. Goolsby was a 2019 graduate of Sebastopol High School.
