After an exhaustive TBI investigation spanning more than six years, four men were arrested Thursday for a 2013 murder in Decatur County.
TBI spokesperson Keli McAlister says TBI agents and law enforcement officers in two states served the four men with arrest warrants charging them in the November 2013 murder of 28-year-old John Wesley Conway, of Decaturville.
McAlister says the Decatur County Grand Jury returned indictments in May 2019. However, due to the highly sensitive and complex nature of the investigation, they’re just now being unsealed.
At the request of former 24th District Attorney General Hansel McAdams, TBI agents began investigating the crime, which in 2014 resulted in the indictment and arrest of 45-year-old Dustin “Dusty” Lovelace on numerous charges including First Degree Murder.
In 2016, at the request of current District Attorney General Matt Stowe, those charges were dismissed after information obtained by the TBI determined others were involved and further investigation was necessary in order to hold all responsible individuals accountable.
On Thursday, as a result of the continued work of TBI agents, Lovelace, along with 27-year-old William Crawley, 61-year-old Mickey “Earl” Harris, and 50-year-old Franklin Shane Rushing were served with arrest warrants charging each of them with First Degree Murder, Conspiracy to Commit First Degree Murder, and Especially Aggravated Robbery.
Crawley, Harris, and Lovelace are being held without bond in the Decatur County Jail, while Rushing is incarcerated on unrelated federal drug counts in Mississippi and will be transported to Decatur County at a later date.
