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Last updated on Monday, October 26, 2015
(UNDATED) - An Alabama woman involved in a police chase in July in both Daviess and Martin Counties has been officially charged with murder, in connection with an Alabama homicide.
Authorities Friday announced a murder charges against 31-year-old Candie Zito in the death of Anthony Shane Gibson.
She and her cousin, 26-year-old Cory Zito, were both taken into custody nearly a week after the killing after they were seriously injured in the Indiana police chase. Cory Zito has not been charged Gibson's death, but he is being held in Shelby County on a theft of property charge related to the case and is listed as a murder suspect in court records
20-year-old Gibson was last seen alive July 2 when he left his home about 8 p.m. that Thursday night, telling family he was going to a nearby store. He never returned. He left in his grandmother's car, the white 1998 Ford Escort. The vehicle had a rear bumper sticker that reads "My Child Shines at Oliver Elementary."
Gibson's body was found three days later, on a Sunday night. Leeds police got the call at 6 p.m. after someone made the gruesome discovery. Police responded to the wooded area, which is three-quarters of a mile off of Markeeta Road in Jefferson County.
Gibson's body was burned beyond recognition, and an autopsy later showed he had been shot. The three-month probe, led by Leeds Detective Kevin Palmer, showed the murder took place at Candie Zito's parents' home in Chelsea. Gibson's body was then taken to Leeds and dumped.
On July 8, Leeds police issued a lookout bulletin for Candie Zito. Police didn't say what led them to her. Three days later, she and Cory Zito were found in Indiana.
Candie Zito, authorities said, showed up at her grandmother's home in Montgomery. Her grandmother called police, and she fled, leading officers on a 20-minute, 15-mile pursuit. The Zitos were in the 1998 Ford Escort last driven by Anthony Gibson.
Daviess County Sheriff's Department Capt. Chuck Milton says he chase began at 1:47 p.m. that Saturday when a deputy spotted the Escort pull out from a gas station and pull into a Dollar General parking lot. There was a verbal exchange between the Zitos and the deputy. The deputy, told the two to shut off the car and put their hands out the window.
The driver - later identified as Cory Zito - didn't comply, and instead put the car in reverse and jumped the curb of the store. The pursuit began, and continued at a high rate of speed, with the vehicle running other motorists off the road. The pursuit continued into Martin County through the cities of Loogootee and Shoals. Cody Zito then lost control of the car which caused to to travel down an embankment and hit several trees.
Both were injured and were airlifted to Deaconess Hospital in Evansville. Candie Zito underwent surgery and remained in the hospital until July 14, at which point she was released and booked into the Daviess County Security Center in Washington, Indiana. She now also faces felony charges in that state for resisting law enforcement and possession of stolen property, already was charged with a theft of property warrant in Alabama for the theft of Gibson's car.
Cory Zito was initially in critical condition. Authorities in Alabama issued a warrant for his arrest Sept. 6, on a theft of property charge involving Gibson's stolen car. It's not clear when he was released from the Indiana hospital, but he was booked into the Shelby County Jail that day, and ordered held on $1 million bond, jail records show. He's been jailed ever since.
In court records, authorities asked for the $1 million bond saying Cory Zito has a lengthy criminal history including five arrests on 12 charges as an adult including burglary, stalking, felony harassing communications, domestic abuse/batter, criminal damage to property, criminal trespass, assault by drive-by shooting, domestic abuse batter, and burglary of an inhabited dwelling. He has three felony convictions.
They also sought the high bond because "at the present time, the defendant is being investigated for murder related to the shooting death of Anthony Shame Gibson in Shelby County." At the time of their arrests, both Candie Zito and Cory Zito had outstanding felony warrants in Louisiana.
According to Leeds Police Chief Byron Jackson, Candie Zito remains in the Daviess County Jail in Indiana awaiting return to Alabama. Her bond on the murder charge is set at $1 million.
"Leeds police would like to thank the Daviess County Sheriff's Office, the Shelby County Sheriff's Office and the Shelby County District Attorney's Office for their outstanding assistance in this investigation,'' Jackson wrote in a press release.
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