YAZOO COUNTY, Miss. (WJTV) – A woman has been found guilty in connection to the death of a Brandon man in Yazoo County.

On Saturday, August 19, 2023, a Yazoo County Circuit Court Jury found Stephanie Ward guilty of first degree murder and hindering prosecution.

Authorities said Ward, along with John Henry May, drove Roger Lee Scruggs, Jr., to a rural area of Vaughn on Wildwood Road in the late-night hours of November 22, 2017.

Testimony provided by May showed that Ward and May murdered Scruggs by beating him to death. The two loaded the body into May’s truck where it was stored for more than a week.

On December 1, 2017, testimony showed that Ward and May took Scruggs’ body back to Wildwood Road in an attempt to stage an ATV accident. The following day, the two called the Yazoo County coroner to report that Ward’s “brother,” Scruggs, had been found dead by an unknown bypasser.

As agents with the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI) investigated he case, they determined the motive for Scruggs’ death was likely money. Testimony revealed that Ward contacted Veterans Affairs two days after she reported the body of Scruggs, claiming to be his wife and asked for spousal benefits.

She used the first spousal benefits check as a down payment to buy a new Ford Explorer in the name of co-defendant May, who previously pled guilty to the murder of Scruggs.

Ward was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) on the first degree murder charge and five years for hindering prosecution. Both sentences will run consecutively.