Jackson Jambalaya

Madison-Rankin District Attorney John Bramlett issued the following statement.

 Madison and Rankin Counties’ District Attorney Bubba Bramlett, Jr., announced that on February 22, 2021, Judge Dewey Arthur sentenced Willis Delano Murray to 30 years for statutory rape.

Murray,  54,  will  serve  all  30  years  of  his  sentence  in  prison  without  the  possibility  of parole. He must register as a sex offender and will have no contact with the victim.

On November 17, 2016, the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department received a call from a homeowner regarding an  unknown adult man found in her daughter’s bedroom. The man fled the scene. The man was identified as 50 year old Willis Delano Murray from Houston, Texas. It was later determined that Murray began an online relationship with a 13 year old child, he continued to communicate with her and drove to Mississippi to have sexual relations with her when she was 15 years old.

Murray was indicted for statutory rape in February 2017. However, he was not extradited from Texas until December 2019. The jury trial began on December 7, 2020. On December 8,  2020, the jury found Murray guilty of statutory rape.

District Attorney Bramlett stated, “Murray used the internet to start an inappropriate online relationship with a child and then drove across state lines to have sexual relations with her.  Thanks to the Rankin County citizens who served on the jury in this case, Murray will have to pay  for the crime he committed.”