In a case reminscent of Bonnie and Clyde, an Alabama couple allegedly went on a crime spree across Northwest Florida last week that ended with a crash, shots fired and one of them dead in Georgia Thursday night.
The case made it’s way to Calhoun County Feb. 23 when the couple allegedly burglarized two homes, making off with 20 guns. Inv. John Scheetz of the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office took the case and learned they had also hit in Jackson County. Inv. Scheetz followed leads all week, taking him to Defuniak Springs where the female suspect, identified as Crystal Miley Harry, 34, allegedly pawned one of the guns stolen from the Calhoun County residence.
Harry and her boyfriend, Phillip Kelley, 37, both of Sylacauga, Alabama, made their way into south Georgia Thursday. When a deputy on patrol in Worth County attempted to pull their vehicle over for a minor traffic violation, the couple failed to stop. A high speed chase ensued from U.S. Hwy. 82 to Georgia Hwy. 133. It ended when the couple’s vehicle crashed and overturned.
Taking the pair into custody would seem relatively routine at this point, but that was not the case.
According to Georgia authorities, Crystal Miley Harry came out of the vehicle with a gun in each hand pointed at law enforcement. When she refused commands to drop her weapons, she was shot dead on the spot.
Phillip Kelley surrendered and is being held without bond in the Worth County Jail.
A search of the vehicle turned up meth and 11 guns in the trunk, along with another two guns in the interior, in addition to the two guns Harry was wielding. Authorities believe they were all from the Florida burglaries.
Inv. Scheetz and an investigator from the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office went to Georgia and met with Kelley who reportedly confessed to the crimes in our area. Monday, Scheetz and investigators from all over the panhandle gathered to compare notes on other potential cases.
It may be awhile before Kelley faces his Calhoun County charges. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation and ATF have charges pending.
Although a tragedy that a life was lost in this case, Worth County Sheriff Jeff Hobby told WALB News 10 the deputies had no choice since Crystal Harry would not drop her weapons. “They did what they were trained to do. Their training kicked in and they done what they had to do to go home to their families.”
