Kidnap-slaying suspect kills himself; 2 girls OK

ADRIAN SAINZ, HOLBROOK MOHR

Asso­ci­ated Press

GUNTOWN, Miss. — As a SWAT team closed in, a fugi­tive accused of killing a Ten­nessee mother and daugh­ter before dis­ap­pear­ing for nearly two weeks with her two other chil­dren killed him­self Thurs­day evening, allow­ing author­i­ties to safely recover the kid­napped girls, police said.

Adam Mayes, 35, shot him­self in the head Thurs­day evening after author­i­ties, act­ing on a tip, found him and the girls near New Albany, Miss., said Gun­town Police Chief Michael Hall.

Mayes later was pro­nounced dead at a hos­pi­tal, said Daniel McMullen, FBI spe­cial agent in charge of Mis­sis­sippi, at a Thurs­day evening news conference.

Alexan­dra Bain, 12, and Kyliyah Bain, 8, were taken to a hos­pi­tal for obser­va­tion, Hall said. They appeared to be unharmed, McMullen said.

A spe­cial oper­a­tions team from the Mis­sis­sippi High­way Patrol and offi­cers from the state Depart­ment of Wildlife, Fish­eries and Parks res­cued the girls, McMullen said.

Mayes had been charged with first-degree mur­der in the April 27 deaths of Jo Ann Bain, 31, and her daugh­ter, Adri­enne, 14. Their bod­ies were found buried out­side the Mayes’ home a week after they were reported miss­ing by Jo Ann Bain’s husband.

Mayes’ wife, Teresa, also is charged with first-degree mur­der in the deaths. She told inves­ti­ga­tors he killed Jo Ann and Adri­enne Bain at their Whiteville, Tenn., home so he could abduct the two young sis­ters, accord­ing to court documents.

“Thank God it’s over and the babies are safe,” said Teresa Mayes’ sis­ter, Bobbi Booth. “That’s all that mat­tered. I’m just glad it turned out the way it did.”

Teresa Mayes told inves­ti­ga­tors that after she saw her hus­band kill the two in the garage at the Bain home, she drove him, the younger girls and the bod­ies to Mis­sis­sippi, accord­ing to affi­davits filed in court. She faces six felony counts in the case: two first-degree mur­der charges and four espe­cially aggra­vated kid­nap­ping charges.

Author­i­ties refused to com­ment on the motive for the April 27 slay­ings and abductions.

Mayes’ mother-in-law, Josie Tate, told The Asso­ci­ated Press that Mayes thought the miss­ing sis­ters might actu­ally be his daugh­ters and it caused prob­lems in his mar­riage to her daugh­ter, Teresa, who is jailed in the case.

“She was tired of him dot­ing on those two lit­tle girls that he claimed were his,” Tate said.

Adam Mayes’ mother, Mary Mayes, also has been charged with con­spir­acy to com­mit espe­cially aggra­vated kidnapping.

Mary Mayes’ attor­ney, Somerville attor­ney Terry Dycus, said his client main­tains she is not guilty.

The hunt for Adam Mayes and the two young sis­ters encom­passed parts of at least three coun­ties in north­ern Mis­sis­sippi. State and local law enforce­ment agents on Thurs­day searched a densely wooded area about 10 miles from Mayes’ home near Guntown.

Dee Hart, who orga­nized a Tues­day night vigil for the girls in Boli­var, Tenn., said their prayers were answered.

“No words can express our ela­tion,” she said by phone. “We know prayers brought those babies home. I can’t wait to see them.”

Posted by AP News on May 10 2012. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS Feed. Comments can be made below.