Woman who tried to kill victim with homemade bomb hatched plan to escape from jail with man’s help: Deputies

A woman in jail for allegedly trying to kill another person with a homemade bomb hatched a plan to escape with a man’s help, Mississippi authorities maintain.

Christina Willis, 27, was charged with attempted murder and planting or placing a bomb, explosive, or weapon of mass destruction earlier this month. A little over a week later, she and Mark Montgomery, 48, were both charged with conspiracy to commit a crime, the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office told Law&Crime.

The case stretches back to earlier this summer, when deputies were called on June 20 about a “suspicious package discovered on a vehicle” in southwest Lafayette County, which is located in the north of The Magnolia State.

“The package was removed by the victim and secured by deputies,” the sheriff’s office said, noting that, three days later, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives helped investigate. Once bomb technicians examined the package — according to authorities — they confirmed it “contained a live, homemade explosive device.”

Investigators set out looking for leads and forensic evidence, and they developed a suspect: Willis.

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According to the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office, when officials carried out a search warrant on Aug. 4 at her residence on Highway 35 South in Panola County — Lafayette County’s western neighbor — they found “evidence of bomb-making materials, homemade high explosive substances, firearms, and narcotics,” as well as “another explosive device.”

It is not clear what relationship, if any, Willis had with the alleged victim, nor what motive law enforcement officials believe she had in allegedly making and planting the bomb.

Willis was arrested and placed in the Panola County Jail before being transferred to the Lafayette County Detention Center — but she didn’t plan to stay there long, according to authorities.

The Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office told Law&Crime its investigators were contacted by employees at the detention center on Thursday about “a plan for an escape attempt.” As they started digging, they learned more about the plot, and believed a man – Montgomery – was involved.

On Thursday, Montgomery was given a $50,000 bond. He is being held in the Lafayette County Detention Center and is expected to also be charged federally.

Willis could face federal charges too, after the ATF presents the case to a federal grand jury. She is being held “pending a bond hearing for her original charges.” The specific details into how she allegedly planned to escape were not released.

Lafayette County Sheriff Joey East said following Willis’ initial arrest that he was “very proud of the way all of our local, state, and federal agencies worked together during this investigation.”

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