Two Leflore County men charged in a brutal daytime robbery and knife attack at Skelton’s U-Haul on Grenada Boulevard remain in jail after being denied bond.
The two women seriously injured — Melanie Cleveland Riley and Lori Wixon — continue to recover.
Both women were stabbed and beaten repeatedly by two men wielding knives who kicked in the locked door at the business’ office at about 2 p.m. Monday in a robbery that netted about $110 in cash.
Trampas Skelton, Wixon’s brother and Riley’s fiance, said this morning that both are physically recovering from the attack but remain emotionally distraught over the harrowing experience.
“They’re doing a whole lot better,” Skelton said. “They’re just sore and tired, but emotionally they’re a wreck.”
Skelton said the attackers also took both women’s cellphones after stabbing and beating them, leaving them bleeding and unable to call police.
Too scared to head outside in the moments after the attack, Riley went to the laptop in the office and put a message on Facebook: “Call 911 bleeding and robbed I am dying...”
“They were scared to go out the door,” Skelton said. “They knew that if they didn’t go outside, eventually they’d bleed to death.”
After waiting several minutes, both women left the office to seek help from passing motorists on Grenada Boulevard. Skelton said Wixon, his sister, made it to their mother’s house nearby to knock on the window as emergency responders arrived.
The two men charged in the attack, Cory D. Taylor, 27, 11002 N. Mississippi 7, and Jeremy Jermaine Carter, 22, of County Road 392, just outside Itta Bena, were denied bail by Leflore County Judge Kevin Adams at a hearing on Wednesday.
Both have been charged with attempted capital murder, armed robbery and conspiracy to commit armed robbery.
The Mississippi Department of Corrections has also placed holds on the two suspects, who both have prior convictions and were on probation at the time of the robbery.
Taylor had been sentenced to two years in prison in 2010 after pleading guilty to burglarizing a Leflore County home. He had also been sentenced to five years of probation following his release and had an additional seven years of his sentence suspended as part of the plea deal.
Carter had been implicated in a 2013 commercial burglary in the county, but the case was placed on nonadjudication, meaning a criminal conviction and sentence were withheld pending the completion of three years of probation.
Leflore County Sheriff Ricky Banks said earlier this week that Taylor, Carter and an as-yet-unidentified driver left Itta Bena Monday planning a robbery and armed with a pair of knives. They stopped at a Greenwood store with the intention of robbing it, but customers were in the store at the time, the sheriff said.
They allegedly moved on to rob the U-Haul rental business, believing the office contained a safe, Banks said.
This morning, Leflore County Undersheriff Ken Spencer said that the investigation is continuing and that deputies were still following leads and considering additional suspects.
“We’re still following up and tying up some loose ends on the case,” Spencer said.
Skelton said he was thankful for the work sheriff’s deputies had done to track down the main suspects and was relieved that the alleged attackers were in custody.
“We’re glad they caught them and that maybe justice will be served in the right way,” Skelton said. “We’re thankful to the Sheriff’s Department.”
Skelton said that Riley also wanted to send her many thanks to everybody who had helped them over the last week, including the ambulance drivers and paramedics who responded and the friends, family and acquaintances who had sent notes, support and prayers.
• Contact Bryn Stole at 581-7235 or bstole@gwcommonwealth.com.
