By By William F. West / community editor
Aug. 27, 2002
A 20-year-old enlisted woman from Naval Air Station Meridian is being held in connection with the death of a Lauderdale County man.
Stanley Lyles' body was discovered late Friday night in his home on Sneed Road. Two men have been charged with capital murder, and are expected to be extradited from Kentucky this week.
Rosemary Para was charged Monday with accessory after the fact of burglary and Maj. Ward Calhoun of the Lauderdale County Sheriff's Department said the investigation of her alleged connection will continue.
Asked whether Para had been absent without leave, Calhoun said that, to his knowledge, the Navy has not charged her with anything.
Calhoun and other investigators have declined to be specific about Para's alleged link to the case.
Extradition
Meanwhile, the sheriff's department is seeking extradition of two men Eric Michael Thomas, 20, of 401 55th Ave. in Meridian, and Jonathan Richard Davis, 18, also of NAS Meridian.
Calhoun said Davis is a Marine.
Thomas and Davis are being held in jail in Grant County, Ky., following a one-vehicle accident Friday afternoon on Interstate 75 south of Cincinnati. The two men were driving Lyles' 1993 Ford Explorer.
The Kentucky trooper who investigated the accident became suspicious and called the Lauderdale County Sheriff's Department. Deputies went to check on Lyles and discovered his body in his home on Sneed Road, a narrow drive off Old Eighth Street Road.
Calhoun said he is waiting for word about whether Thomas and Davis will fight extradition.
If the two men fight extradition, Calhoun said, a hearing will have to be held.
Autopsy results pending
Calhoun said Lyles was believed to have been dead for some time before his body was discovered, but he is still waiting for autopsy results.
The autopsy was conducted Monday night. Calhoun said preliminary results could arrive sometime this afternoon or Wednesday.
Calhoun, Chief Deputy Mitchell and a shift sergeant were among those who went to Lyles' house late Friday night and found the body.
The Kentucky trooper's probe noted that Davis and Thomas had been driving the Explorer for some time, but Lyles had not reported it stolen. That led investigators here to suspect that something had happened to Lyles that prevented him from filing a report.