A Greenwood man accused of shooting a cousin to death and wounding a brother has been apprehended in Alabama.
Edward Bush Jr. was arrested in Dallas County on Sunday after allegedly being involved in a vehicle theft three days earlier, as reported by the Selma Times-Journal.
Bush, 22, had been on the run since Aug. 30, after he allegedly killed his cousin, 26-year-old Demontra Ewing, and seriously wounded his older brother, 26-year-old Demarius Bush. The shooting occurred at the home where the three men lived on Canary Cove.
Ewing was a supervisor at Milwaukee Tool, where Edward Bush also worked. Demarius Bush is an assistant principal and basketball coach at Coffeeville High School.
Edward Bush was arrested by officers with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and Dallas County Sheriff’s Department. He is currently being held at the Dallas County Jail, awaiting extradition to Leflore County.
Tracy Ware, speaking on behalf of the Bush family, said members of the family had been hopeful that Edward Bush would be found or turn himself in.
“We’re glad that he’s not on the run anymore. We’re hoping and praying that he can get some attention that he needs to see why this horrific event occurred and we can get to the bottom of it,” Ware said Monday. He is a grandfather of Demarius Bush’s 2-year-old daughter.
“If there is an issue that would have triggered this, we don’t know. We’re like most people, just concerned how all this came about,” Ware said.
“At this point, we are just grateful that he’s alive,” he said of Edward Bush. “His parents will be able to see him and talk to him and hopefully get some kind of understanding or closure as to why and how all of this transpired.”
A manhunt for Edward Bush, formerly of Clay County, began in Mississippi after the Leflore County Sheriff’s Department considered him the key suspect in the shooting. At the time, authorities said he should be considered armed and dangerous.
He had been driving a white 2014 Audi A5 but was spotted Thursday in Alabama, where he allegedly stole a vehicle in Hale County. That is about 75 miles away from Dallas County, where Bush was caught.
He was arrested around 5:30 a.m. Sunday on U.S. 80 between Selma and Marion Junction, the Selma newspaper reported.
“The Dallas County Sheriff’s Office and ALEA did an excellent job in keeping him trapped in the area until they could apprehend him without anybody getting hurt,” Dallas County District Attorney Michael Jackson said. “It’s a welcome relief to the community that he is behind bars.”
Jackson said that Bush would be brought to Dallas County District Court this week to deal with his return to Leflore County to face charges. “If he signs the form waiving extradition, Mississippi will come get him pretty quickly,” Jackson said.
If Bush doesn’t waive extradition, the prosecutor said, his office and Mississippi authorities “will have to go through the Governor Kay Ivey’s Office” to compel Bush’s return to Mississippi.
He is expected to face charges of murder and aggravated assault.
Meanwhile, Demarius Bush, who suffered multiple gunshot wounds, continues to recover at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, according to Ware.
“He’s still in recovery, but he’s making progress,” Ware said. “He’s making steps forward. There are no setbacks at this moment.”
- Contact Kevin Edwards at 662-581-7233 or kedwards@gwcommonwealth.com.
