Suspects in murder will be extradited

By By William F. West / community editor
Aug. 28, 2002
Sheriff Billy Sollie said two men charged with capital murder in the death of Stanley Lyles have waived extradition from Kentucky, and will be returned to Lauderdale County this week.
Lauderdale deputies found the 47-year-old man's body in his home on Sneed Road Friday night hours after a Kentucky state trooper detained Eric Michael Thomas, 20, 401 55th Ave. in Meridian, and Jonathan Richard Davis, 18, a Marine at Naval Air Station Meridian.
Thomas and Davis were driving Lyles' sport utility vehicle Friday afternoon when they were involved in an accident on Interstate 75 in northern Kentucky. The trooper became suspicious and contacted the Lauderdale County Sheriff's Department. Deputies went to check on Lyles and found his body.
Sollie, speaking to reporters on Tuesday, said both Thomas and Davis signed documents agreeing to return to face the murder charges. Deputies will fly to Kentucky to pick them up.
Sollie and his investigators are waiting for the official results of an autopsy performed Monday, but officers present at the autopsy said they saw a number of stab wounds on the body.
A third suspect, Rosemary Para, 20, also of NAS Meridian, is being held on $50,000 bond on a charge accessory after the fact of burglary.
Sollie said Para returned to Lauderdale County to face military officials for being absent without leave and that military officials were a tremendous help in locating her.
Sollie said his investigators and state crime laboratory experts have a collected a large amount of evidence in the case.
Sollie, asked about when he expects the Lyles case will go to a grand jury, said it depends on the crime lab, adding that DNA testing will have to be conducted.