2 Charged In Death Returned To Smyth

Two suspects charged in connection with the stabbing death of a Chilhowie, Va., man in December arrived at the Smyth County Sheriff’s Office on Saturday, after a 999-mile road trip from San Antonio where they were apprehended Dec. 14.

Jason Betts and Mithrellas Curtis, both of Saltville, Va., were charged after an early morning attack Dec. 8 at the Town Springs Road home of Jason Brown. Brown was stabbed to death; three others in the home, including his wife and daughter, were seriously injured.

Local, state and federal law enforcement officers immediately began a search for Betts, who had dated Brown’s daughter, Jennifer, and once lived in the Browns’ home.

Betts, 24, was charged with first-degree murder, malicious wounding, and breaking and entering.

Several days after the attack, authorities learned that Betts was traveling with Curtis, 23. She was subsequently charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and three counts of conspiracy to commit malicious wounding.

The pair led federal authorities on a six-day manhunt through multiple states after the killing, sometimes leaving comments on Curtis’ MySpace page, and were apprehended by the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force after being located in Texas. They were sleeping in their car when authorities made the arrest.

On Tuesday, four deputies with the Smyth County Sheriff’s Office left for San Antonio, where they picked up the pair and turned around for the journey back, said Bill Eller, one of the investigators at the Smyth County Sheriff’s Office who transported them.

After picking Betts and Curtis up, Eller said, they drove to Memphis where the suspects were housed at the Memphis jail overnight before completing their journey Saturday.

“We didn’t have any problems with them whatsoever,” Eller said.

After being processed around 6:30 p.m. in Smyth County, the suspects were taken to the Southwest Regional Jail in Abingdon, Va., Eller said.

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