Left: Comer McWaters (Perry County Sheriff’s Office). Right: Eden Sexton (Facebook).
A visit to his mother’s home led a Mississippi sheriff to a wanted murder suspect accused of killing a Georgia woman who had been missing for months.
Comer McWaters, 68, is charged with murdering 49-year-old Eden Sexton in Alabama, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.
The Columbus Police Department in Georgia announced Sexton’s disappearance on Feb. 27. Sexton was last seen at about 11 a.m. on Feb. 22 in the 4000 block of Victory Drive.
Alabama investigators identified McWaters as a suspect and secured a warrant for his arrest.
On Sept. 21, the Perry County Sheriff’s Office in Mississippi received a tip that an Alabama man was living in the Buck Creek community under an alias to avoid arrest. Deputies did not initially know McWaters was wanted for murder. When they attempted to detain him, he allegedly fled into the woods.
Later that day, Perry County Sheriff Jacob Garner was visiting his mother when he saw a man emerge from the woods and walk along a private drive.
The man was McWaters.
According to authorities, McWaters became “extremely combative and aggressive” and was carrying two large knives.
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“McWaters did not surrender easily,” the sheriff’s office said in a press release. “Despite being 68 years old, McWaters was strong for his age and physically resisted Sheriff Garner. A physical struggle followed, during which Sheriff Garner was able to disarm McWaters and take him into custody.”
After McWaters was handcuffed, deputies confirmed his identity and discovered that he was wanted for murder in Alabama.
Authorities have not explained how McWaters was identified as a suspect.
A friend of Sexton created a Help Find Eden Sexton Facebook page with additional information about the case. The friend said Sexton had been staying at a motel when she disappeared. Motel employees reportedly told the friend that Sexton left with an older man, apparently McWaters, and was never seen again.
The friend said McWaters told police that he and Sexton argued while driving and that she got out of his vehicle.
Investigators, however, said that account was not accurate.
Authorities allegedly found Sexton’s DNA in McWaters’ car and at his home in Little Texas, about 45 miles east of Montgomery.
Officials have not disclosed the nature of McWaters’ relationship with Sexton or identified a motive in the alleged killing.
McWaters remains held at the Perry County Jail in Mississippi.
