Man wanted in Moss Point carjacking, Alabama death now in custody, officials say

A man described as "armed and extremely dangerous" is now in custody, said Moss Point Police Chief Brandon Ashley.

Devarian Edwards was taken into custody Friday by U.S. marshals in Houston, Texas, Ashley said Sunday.

Edwards was wanted in Moss Point after an armed carjacking and crime spree spanning two states ended in one death, the Sun Herald reported in May.

Edwards was also wanted by police in Jackson, Alabama, on charges of murder, attempted murder and discharging a firearm into an unoccupied vehicle.

At 2:12 a.m. May 25, Moss Point police received a call that a man and woman were carjacked at gunpoint on the Interstate 10 Exit 69 westbound entrance ramp, near the intersection of Mississippi 63.

The man and woman told officers they were on the way to Houston and stopped at the entrance ramp to switch drivers, when three to four men approached with firearms and forced them out of their white 2018 Nissan Rogue with a North Carolina license plate.

The men then drove off westbound on the interstate in the stolen vehicle, the Sun Herald previously reported.

Ashley told the Sun Herald in May the men are expected to face charges of, in chronological order, grand larceny for motor vehicle theft in Pascagoula, then armed carjacking and commercial burglary in Moss Point, followed by armed robbery and kidnapping in Jackson County, ending in Jackson, Alabama, with capital murder.

Scieler McKenzie, 19, died after he was found shot on Miller Street after a call of shots fired at 6:47 a.m. May 25, according to a release from the Jackson Police Department in Alabama. He died at the scene.

Two 19-year-olds have been arrested: Kyle Webb of Pascagoula and Zavier Williams of Jackson, Alabama.

Officers determined the Nissan Rogue had pulled into a vacant lot and all four men had exited the vehicle. Edwards and Webb began firing handguns at McKenzie and Williams. McKenzie was hit multiple times while Williams escaped unharmed.

Edwards and Webb fled in the Rogue. Other Alabama law enforcement agencies later spotted the vehicle and it refused to stop as it entered Mobile County. The vehicle hit a road sign and stopped long enough for Webb to get out and run into a wooded area in Mt. Vernon. Officers began searching for him while Edwards drove south on Alabama 43.

Area K-9 units, U.S. marshals and a helicopter began searching the wooded area, and Webb was "located and apprehended."

Shortly after that, Pascagoula officers found the Rogue abandoned. It was then all the agencies were able to link the crime spree together.

Webb was arrested by Jackson police on charges of murder, attempted murder and discharging a firearm into an unoccupied vehicle.

Williams was arrested by Jackson police on a charge of receiving stolen property 4th degree.

Ashley said Sunday Edwards is being held in Houston awaiting extradition to Alabama for murder charges. After that, authorities in Jackson County will extradite him, Ashley said.

Investigating agencies included Moss Point police, Pascagoula Police Department, Jackson County Sheriff's Office (MS), Washington County (AL), Alabama Sheriff's Office, and Jackson Police Department (AL).

Sun Herald editor Lauren Walk contributed to this report.

This story was originally published July 8, 2018 at 11:56 AM.