A Newton resident has been sentenced to prison for charges stemming from the March 2017 murder of Jamarcus Townsend, 21.
District Attorney Stephen Kilgore confirmed Ashton Myota Thompson was found guilty of accessory to murder after the fact in Leake County Circuit Court last week and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
“She was found guilty this last term of court in Carthage,” Kilgore said.
Thompson will serve 18 years in the custody of Mississippi Department of Corrections, Kilgore said. The remaining two years of her 20-year sentence were suspended.
A total of 10 people were arrested in connection with Townsend’s murder. In the days after Townsend as found shot dead outside a home at 113 Tillman St. just before midnight on March 17, police arrested Lyndale Jones, Dontay Chapman and Richard Lofton. Each face charges of first degree murder for shooting of Townsend and are believed to be the actual triggermen.
As the investigation progressed, Newton police also arrested Jordan D’Mark Myers, Devon Dequion Thompson, Robert Shadon Bender, Darron LaShuan Thames, Thompson and Jessica Jean Powers in connection with the homicide.
Jones, Chapman, and Lofton are all charged with first degree murder and were all denied bail by Circuit Court Judge Christopher Collins.
LaShuan Thames is charged with conspiracy to commit murder and as an accessory to murder after the fact. Devon Thompson, Robert Shadon Bender, Thompson and Jessica Jean Powers are all charged with being accessories to murder after the fact.
According to the indictment, Bender and Devon Thompson helped clean the vehicle that was used by Jones, Chapman and Lofton in the shooting and helped them dispose of evidence.
According to the indictment, Ashton Thompson and Powers transported Myers and Lofton outside of the county so they could avoid arrest.
Myers’ trial was previously held in April, however a mistrial was declared after several jurors reported a member of the audience had been taking pictures with a cell phone. As the homicide was thought to be gang-related, the jurors feared retaliation. After questioning the audience member, it was discovered no pictures were taken, but the jurors’ fear still prompted Judge Chris Collins to grant a mistrial.
Kilgore previously said the district attorney’s office would be retrying the case this fall.
