Johnson now in custody

Published 6:57 am Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Rachel Johnson was apprehended recently and is no longer on the run. According to investigators, she jumped out of a car she was riding in with Robert Kyle Hatley and went to a business and called her parents. They picked her up and took her to the Lamar County Sheriff’s Office.  She was returned to Jefferson Davis County and booked into the Jefferson Davis County jail. She was charged with accessory after the fact and conspiracy to commit a crime. Hatley is still on the run.

JDC deputies were looking for Johnson in connection with Robert Kyle Hatley and a rash of burglaries throughout the county.

Guns and multiple items were stolen recently from a home in Greens Creek, along with a truck that was parked at the residence. Jefferson Davis County Investigator Vernon Dampier located the truck later on East Granby Road and a chase with Hatley and Johnson ensued. The two fled on foot after they wrecked the truck in Covington County. The two are also wanted in conjunction with two burglaries on Park Fortenberry Road with more charges possible.

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The pair is no stranger to law enforcement officials. Johnson helped Hatley escape from trash detail as a prisoner with the Jefferson Davis County Sheriff’s Department in April 2022. If you have any information of their whereabouts please contact the JDC Sheriff’s Department at 601-792-5169.

Hatley was positively identified by a homeowner on Park Fortenberry Road after his home was burglarized twice. Officers also believe he is responsible for theft at a residence on Ebenezer Road after a railroad jack from that residence was found in the wrecked truck.

Officers are still searching for Hatley. If you have any information of their whereabouts please contact the Jefferson Davis Sheriff Department at 601-792-5169.

The pair is no stranger to law enforcement. Hatley was arrested March 19, 2022, by JDC deputies after he was indicted for grand larceny in connection with a catalytic convertor theft on Black Polk Road.

He escaped from custody and was picked up by Johnson while on trash duty on East St. Stephens Road on March 30, 2022. The two fled the area and were on the run until captured in Panola County. According to authorities, Hatley and Johnson ran from law enforcement officers in Panola County, wrecked the vehicle they were in and fled into the woods. U. S. Marhsals were called in to assist with the search, and after two days in the woods, the couple was apprehended April 21, 2022, and returned to JDC.

Hatley was also indicted in Lincoln County and Franklin County prior to his arrest in JDC and wanted for felony crimes in Lawrence and Covington County.