A third arrest has been made in the staged ATV accident murder case, and this time the first order of business for investigators was determining the suspect’s true identity.
In addition to giving two different dates of birth at different times, the suspect also provided seven different names.
She was booked into the Yazoo County Correctional Facility as “Jane Doe,” and investigators believe Stephanie Denise Ward, 42, of Clinton, to be the true identity of the third suspect in the Dec. 2 murder of Roger Lee Scruggs, 44, of Brandon.
She is also known as Diana S. Carrington, Stephanie Jackson, Stephanie Claxton, Victoria Carrington, Diana Chaney and Stephanie Burton.
Ward is being held on a $3 million bond in the Yazoo County Correctional Facility. Sheriff Jake Sheriff said investigators sought a high bond because Ward is considered a flight risk.
“They still don’t know much about her,” Sheriff said. “She seemed to give a different answer every time she was asked the same questions. At one point she gave a Louisiana address, but she didn’t know the zip code.”
Ward was arrested by agents of the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation at around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday on Dunbarton Drive in Jackson.
She is charged with conspiracy, hindering prosecution and accessory after the fact of murder.
On December 22, John May of 236 Archer Street and Dr. Larry Cooper of 5967 Huntview Drive, both of Jackson were arrested and face the same charges. Bond was set at $100,000 each for May, and Cooper has since posted bond while May remains in the Yazoo County Correctional Facility.
Scruggs’ body was found off of Wildwood Road in Yazoo County on Dec. 2 in what at first appeared to be an ATV accident in a creek. Investigators quickly determined that Scruggs’ injuries were not the result of an ATV crash, however.
No one has yet been charged with the actual murder.
Sheriff said the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation has taken the lead on the investigation because the suspects are all from outside of Yazoo County, and investigators believe the actual murder took place outside of the county.
