The Kansas trial for a man accused of murder in Mississippi has been delayed due to the death of a prosecutor there.
Alex Deaton is accused of murdering Quitman native Heather Robinson in Rankin County. He’s also charged in the death of Brenda Pinter at Dixon Baptist Church in Neshoba County.
The judicial system is usually a lengthy process and now it will be even longer. Alex Deaton’s Kansas trial has been delayed, prolonging his extradition to Mississippi.
“[Kansas] caught him,” says Assistant District Attorney Steven Kilgore. “They wanted to try him first and usually whoever got him gets to go first.”
Deaton is facing attempted first degree murder, theft, armed robbery and personal felony in Kansas.
“They’re not going to release him under any circumstances whenever they get done whether he is found guilty or not guilty, he’s coming to Mississippi after that,” says Kilgore.
Deaton will likely go in front of a judge in Rankin County first for the murder of his girlfriend. Then he will face his murder charge in Neshoba County. In the meantime, the defense is preparing for it’s case against Deaton.
“I don’t think we will wait to indict him,” says Kilgore. “He doesn’t have to be present for that. Then we will get him served with indictments. It’s going to be a lot of trips back and forth to Kansas.”
The district attorney’s office is working to gather evidence to match one of Deaton’s guns seized in Kansas with a bullet found at Dixon Baptist Church.
“A test fire from each of those guns we will be able to match it with almost certainty. If that bullet came from one of the guns we will know it,” says Kilgore.
The defense says they’re moving as quickly as possible to try Deaton, but it’s just a matter of getting him to Mississippi.
Deaton’s preliminary hearing in Kansas has been pushed back to June 2.
