A recently accused murderer and already convicted felon was in Bay Springs Monday to face an arraignment on a separate charge in Jasper County.
Michael Shane Askew, 52, has been accused of the mid-February killing of 82-year-old Betty Dickerson, who lived just north of Laurel in Jones County. He appeared before Jasper County District Two Justice Court Judge Marvin Jones Monday morning at the Jasper County Courthouse in Bay Springs on a recent child molesting charge.
According to court documents, Askew is accused in Jasper County of having sexual contact with a mentally or physically helpless 7-year-old boy. The incident is documented to have occurred on January 21, just over a month prior to when Dickerson was killed at her home.
Askew was interviewed about the incident with the young boy by the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department before appearing in front of Judge Jones, who later denied bond for Askew.
Last week, Askew was also denied bond in the Dickerson murder case by Jones County Justice Court Judge Grant Hedgepeth during an initial appearance. Following the discovery of Dickerson’s body by her son on February 17, Askew was apprehended as a suspect by US Marshals in Nashville, Tenn., after he fled Mississippi. The victim’s car was also recovered in Tennessee. Askew waived extradition in Tennessee and was transported back to Jones County.
Askew was initially remanded into the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections for crimes in which he was convicted in Jasper County – sell of a Schedule II controlled substance and jail escape – on August 17, 2017. Following conviction on both crimes, it was adjudged by Circuit Judge Stanley Sorey that Askew’s prison time was served (147 days) for the controlled substance conviction, but post release supervision was ordered. The attempted jail escape, which happened at the Jasper County Jail in March 2017 and was quickly quelled by JCSD officials, occurred while Askew was incarcerated for the controlled substance charge. He was convicted on that charge and was sentenced by Judge Sorey to serve five years incarcerated with the Mississippi Department of Corrections on that conviction, a sentence that was to run consecutive to the controlled substance sentence.
Askew was later paroled by MDOC well before his incarceration release date.
On Tuesday afternoon the Jasper County News contacted the Thirteenth Circuit Court District MDOC Office in Raleigh in an attempt to learn the exact date of Askew’s early release from prison confinement, but that information was not made available.
District Attorney Matt Sullivan prosecuted Askew on the controlled substance and jail escape convictions in 2017. Sullivan says that in Mississippi there is an urgent need for prison reform to protect victims and the public from offenders.
“My office prosecuted Askew in 2017. Judge [Stanley] Sorey sentenced Askew to the maximum sentence allowed by law for the felony crime of jail escape, which was for him to serve five years incarcerated in the state penitentiary. That sentence was in addition to the months he had already served in the Jasper County Jail on a conspiracy charge. Once the Court sentenced Askew, he was taken from the control of the Sheriff‘s Department, the District Attorney’s Office and the Circuit Court and placed under the complete custody and control of the Mississippi Department of Corrections to serve his sentence,” he explained. “The fact that MDOC policy allowed Askew to be released from confinement before even 25 percent of his ordered five-year incarceration was completed exemplifies our State’s urgent need to address the ongoing dilemma of prison reform in a way that is fair to the victims of crime and the safety and protection of the public. The lone focus of our much needed prison reform should not be just to get another prisoner out of prison in an attempt to lower costs.”
Following his arraignment in Bay Springs Monday morning, Askew was transported back to the Jones County Detention Center.