November 22, 2017 - Charles Dearing, Jr., 68, of Center was booked into the Shelby County Jail Wednesday, November 22, 2017 and charged with murder as well as possession of marijuana with a combined bond of $2,800,000.
Dearing is the person of interest in the suspected death of Brandi Wright, 38, of Center. Melissa Crouch, Justice of the Peace Precinct 1, performed the inquest on a body located this week and an autopsy has been ordered.
According to an affidavit and warrant issued on November 17, 2017 Center Police Officers sought to search a property at the 4000 block of County Road 1011 in Shelby County for the body of Brandi Wright who was reported by the Center Police Department (CPD) on November 3, 2017 to be missing.
CPD Det. Stephen Stroud gave probable cause for the search warrant in connection with the missing person/homicide investigation concerning Wright.
An individual who has access to property which connects to the Dearing land noticed a vehicle on November 4, 2017 not normally at that location. The individual recalled the vehicle was one for which the Center Police Department had been searching.
CPD Det. Bobby Walker was able on November 8, 2017 to positively identify the vehicle as belonging to Wright by verifying the color, make, model and license plate number. The car was a 2008 Pontiac G6.
According to the affidavit Det. Walker made contact with Charles Dan Dearing, Jr. on that same day, who stated, Wright brought him the car and left it there as security to repay a debt she owed him. A search warrant was executed on the same day and within the car a mobile phone belonging to Wright was located in the center console of the Pontiac.
Messages between Wright and Dearing were located on the phone, according to the affidavit, and one in particular stated Wright was going to pick up Dearing and "they needed to talk."
The CPD executed a search warrant on November 16, 2017 at the location where the car was found and, according to the affidavit, at that time recovered several large buckets full of marijuana, amongst other things. The affidavit states during an interview of a person of interest in the investigation, it was learned Wright recently had been in possession of "a large bucket of marijuana."
The affidavit's author infers Wright received the bucket of marijuana from Dearing and the debt owed was believed to be for the substance. The affidavit further indicated Wright had been in contact with another individual who she stated by text message "took money from her and she was coming to get it," it is not believed Wright recovered that money.
During the search on November 16, 2017, according to the affidavit, a recent Tyson photo ID of Wright was recovered from the bedroom of Dearing as well as a lighter with a woman's hairband and a strand of hair in Dearing's pick-up truck in the passenger door. A long strand of hair was also found on a log in the backyard, according to the affidavit, with blood also on the log. A pair of "Survivor" man's boots were also located with what appears to have been blood.
The affidavit goes on to say Dearing is a strong suspect/person of interest in the investigation as Wright did not have the money owed Dearing, because said money had been stolen from her and she had no alternate method of payment; and this is suggested as a motive for Dearing to harm Wright.
Dearing remains in the Shelby County Jail with a bond set by Melissa Crouch, Justice of the Peace Precinct 1, in the amount of $1,750,000 for murder and another bond set by LeAnn K. Rafferty, 123rd District Judge, in the amount of $1,050,000 for possession of marijuana.
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DA's Office Reports on Location of Wright; Large Quantity of Marijuana
