WINONA -- A local woman was arrested and charged with accessory after the fact for allegedly assisting her husband to evade police.
Jena Hoover of Winona was arrested Tuesday afternoon around 4 p.m. at her residence on Sterling Street by the Winona Police Department. Hoover stands accused of “aiding and concealing” her husband, William Lee Barry, to evade arrest, which is a felony charge.
According to Assistant District Attorney Brandon Langford, Barry was wanted in Grenada County after he failed to appear for trial in February 2020. He is facing an indictment of burglary of a dwelling, aggravated assault, and attempted rape in connection with an incident that occurred in the City of Grenada on September 15, 2018.
According to the indictment handed down from the Grenada County Grand Jury in December 2018, it is alleged that Barry feloniously entered the Grenada County home of a woman and cut her with a knife while attempting to rape her.
Captain Dan Herod, chief investigator for the Winona Police Department, said a four months-long, joint investigation between the Winona Police Department and the U.S. Marshals’ Fugitive Task Force began in the search for Barry after he failed to appear for trial. On June 19, the investigation led officers to believe Barry was inside Hoover’s residence on Sterling Street, and officers conducted a search of the residence that morning.
Herod said Barry was located hiding in the attic of the home. After an hours-long standoff, in which the Starkville Police Department’s SWAT team was called to the scene, Barry surrendered himself to police.
“Despite numerous opportunities to assist with the investigation, [Hoover] knowingly withheld information about Barry’s whereabouts, denied having knowledge of his whereabouts, and she knew during this time that he was wanted by the U.S. Marshal Service,” Herod said. “She even was untruthful about his whereabouts minutes prior to him being found in her attic.”
Hoover was taken to the Winona Police Department, where she was released on a $5,000 bond. If convicted, she faces up to 20 years in prison, according to the Mississippi statute.
