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March 30, 2022
Page 3A
sssSSi
Reporter
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Donley gets 20
years prison for
firing at deputy
By Will Davis
publisher@mymcmet
A fugitive, drug dealer and
gang member who shot at a
deputy and turned Monroe
County upside down in an
overnight manhunt in 2019
was sentenced to 20 years in
prison after pleading guilty
on Monday.
Justin Donley, now 28, pled
guilty to aggravated assault
on a police officer and other
charges as Judge Tommy
Wilson signed off on the plea
deal.
Donley fired three rounds
at Monroe County deputy
Christian Sawley during a
chase on 1-75 south on Nov.
5,2019. Donley was the
passenger in a 2013 Lin
coln sedan fleeing Sawley.
Donleys bullets hit Sawley’s
patrol car but the chase con
tinued around 8:15 pm. The
driver, Eugene Wilson, 25,
of Covington, exited into
the 1-75 rest area, wrecked
in some trees, and the two
fled on foot. Deputies found
cocaine, meth and scales in
side the vehicle. The sheriffs
office alerted the commu
nity that two violent, armed
men were at large, and area
residents lit up yards and
remained on high alert.
Deputies captured an armed
Wilson just after midnight
at the corner of Hwy. 41 and
Pea Ridge Road.
After an all-night search,
at about 8:20 a.m. on Nov. 6,
Donley, who has tattoos all
over his face and a shaved
Justin Donley shows off his
new grill as he was sen
tenced to 20 years in prison
on Monay.
head, entered the Rumble
Road BP station off 1-75 and
walked up to the counter
to buy a Powerade. The
sheriffs office had just called
the store and warned the
clerk, Steve Reece, that the
suspect may be in the area.
Reece recognized Donleys
heavily tattooed face and
confronted the suspect at
gunpoint after Donley asked
Reece to call him a taxi. After
Reece ordered Donley to the
floor, Donley squatted down
before running out the door.
As Donley exited the store,
Reece fired several warning
shots with his 9 mm pistol
into the air and in a fleeing
Donleys direction before
notifying nearby deputies
that Donley had re-entered
the woods.
After leaving the store,
Donley tried to wave down a
driver on Jenkins Road, but
she recognized him as well
and a driver behind her did
too, and reportedly fired his
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own shot at Donley. Depu
ties arrived soon after and
arrested Donley. Donley had
been arrested 28 times and
was convicted in 2013 and
2014 on forgery, possession
of tools for a crime and drug
charges. He also has multiple
probation violation charges.
While he waited in the
Monroe County Jail for his
case to be heard, Donley
persuaded Magistrate Judge
Hugh Sosebee Jr. in Novem
ber 2021 to charge Reece, the
clerk, with aggravated assault
for firing at him. But District
Attorney Jonathan Adams
quickly dismissed the charge.
Reece now works for this
newspaper.
Donley also pled guilty
on Monday to trying to
sell meth from the Monroe
County Jail in 2021. Sheriff
Brad Freeman said he was
proud of his jailers for snuff
ing out that scheme. “He’s
crafty’ said Freeman. “But
we out-foxed the fox.” As
he was sentenced Donley
flashed new gold teeth he
has apparently had installed
while in jail.
Diane Soule
School Board District 1
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