Kentucky man involved in shooting captured; family found safe

WKYT: Derrick Mays Thomas
WKYT: Derrick Mays Thomas(NBC15)
Published: Feb. 22, 2017 at 3:21 PM CST
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OWEN CO., Ky. (WKYT) - Police have captured a man wanted in connection with a double shooting in Owen County.

Kentucky State Police say Derrick Thomas, 23, of Mt. Sterling, shot James and Amber Neal on Friday night at a home on Old Columbus Road in Owen County. Police have been searching for him since.

On Wednesday afternoon, state police announced Thomas had been captured. Police found him in New Mexico, along with his girlfriend, Elizabeth Neal, and their two young girls, Lily, 1, and Alice, 3.

The two juveniles are safe. Police are holding Neal on charges unrelated to the shooting.

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Family members of a man accused of shooting two people in Owen County are urging that man to turn himself in.

Kentucky State Police say Derrick Thomas, 23, of Mt. Sterling, shot James and Amber Neal on Friday night at a home on Old Columbus Road in Owen County. Since then, police have been searching for him.

"We want him home," said Kelly Rawlins, Thomas' aunt. "We love him."

Investigators believe Thomas may be with his girlfriend, Elizabeth Neal, and their two young girls, Lily, 1, and Alice, 3.

Rawlins says their family was shocked to hear about the shooting, but she says Thomas is not a monster.

"He may have some mental health issues that nobody may have been aware of, but we don't think he's dangerous, we don't think he's a threat to the children or his girlfriend," she said. "We just - we just want him home."

That is what has made it so hard on this entire family - not knowing where they are, and not understanding what went wrong. But they want them to know they can come home. In fact, they are pleading with them to come home.

"We want him to know we love him," Thomas' mother, Leah Gross, told WKYT's Garrett Wymer over the phone. "We want him to turn himself in.

"We want him to know there is nothing he can do to make us not love him," she continued. "We will stand beside him and get him the help he needs.

"You don't have to run," Gross said, echoing what she would say to her son. "Come home."

The sheriff's office in Dane County, Wisconsin told our sister station there that they put out an "attempt to locate" for Thomas on Monday, after investigators told them he might be traveling to Wisconsin. Thomas' aunt told us that family members are not aware of any ties he may have to Wisconsin, or why he might be going there.

"Derrick, I don't care where you're at," Rawlins said. "Please, please, think of the girls. And bring them home. If it's at the risk of your own safety, bring them home. You know that that's where they need to be."

Copyright 2017: WKYT