Alex Bridges Deaton, fugitive accused in deadly multi-state crime spree, arrested

PRATT, Kan. -- Authorities have arrested a man suspected of shooting a Kansas convenience store clerk and kidnapping two hikers in New Mexico while on the run after his girlfriend was killed and a jogger was shot in Mississippi.

Kansas Highway Patrol trooper Tod Hileman said in a tweet that 28-year-old Alex Bridges Deaton was taken into custody Wednesday near the town of Wilson, about 80 miles from where the clerk was shot.

Kansas authorities began pursuing Deaton because he was driving a vehicle reported stolen in New Mexico. Kansas investigators say the suspect ditched the vehicle before shooting the clerk and stealing another vehicle. Hileman says Deaton was arrested after his vehicle crashed and caught fire.

Authorities were seeking Deaton in the death of 30-year-old Heather Robinson. Mississippi officials also consider him a suspect in the shooting death of a woman found dead at a rural church.