The mother of slain jogger Sydney Sutherland says that the man accused of killing her daughter helped with her search efforts and even hugged her family members.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Sutherland’s confessed killer Quake Lewellyn, 28, was charged with multiple counts, including murder, kidnapping, and abuse of a corpse. Lewellyn reportedly knew who Sutherland was, as the two went to high school together.
During Tuesday’s episode of “Crime Stories,” Sutherland’s mother, Maggie, told Nancy Grace that Lewellyn and his family helped searched for Sutherland. Lewellyn apparently acted as a concerned citizen and never revealed any incriminating information at the time.
Grace: “Isn’t this right, Miss Sutherland? They came to the search headquarters and actually hugged Sydney’s family as if they were supporting them during the search, when all along he is the one that ran her over dead?”
Maggie: “He was there, his whole family was out there the whole time.”
Lewellyn was arrested on August 21, 2020, and charged with capital murder, kidnapping and rape, after authorities found Sutherland’s body close to her Jackson County, Arkansas, home.
At a preliminary hearing after Lewellyn’s arrest, an Arkansas State Police agent testified that the suspect saw Sutherland as he was driving on Country Road 41 on August 19, 2020, and turned around to pursue her.
An affidavit indicates he struck her with his truck, put her in the back, and drove to the location where her body was later found. There, police said, he raped her and buried her body.
The state medical examiner’s office said that 25-year-old Sutherland died of multiple blunt force injuries.
Lewellyn has now been found competent to stand trial, following an ordered mental health evaluation. Lewellyn’s defense attorney requested the evaluation after suggesting that he might not be capable of understanding the proceedings because of mental incapacity.
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[Feature Photo: Quake Lewellyn, Sydney Sutherland/Handout]
