Role in heist, fire nets 14-year term

MAGNOLIA — An accessory in the burglary and arson that left Macedonia’s 105-year-old Mt. Superior Baptist Church in ashes has been sentenced to 14 years in state prison.

Montie Lynn King, 41, pleaded guilty Thursday in Columbia County criminal court. He was initially charged with commercial burglary and arson of a $100,000-plus property, but as part of his state-negotiated plea deal the former count was dropped by prosecutor Ryan Phillips. King did not start the fire June 26, 2017, but was an “accessory to the fact,” according to state laws.

“I just want to apologize for the role I played,” King told Circuit Judge David W. Talley Jr. during his sentencing. “I want to let the [church] people know that I am truly sorry.”

In a Columbia County sheriff’s office probable-cause affidavit, King and co-defendants Shane Groves of Magnolia and Tiffany J. Welch of Emerson broke into the church early that morning, robbed it of a music sound board, a 32-inch flat-screen television, a printer, a mini refrigerator and two electric heaters before setting the structure on fire to “cover their tracks.”

King is already serving a five-year prison term after pleading guilty in November 2017 to failing to fulfill his registration requirements as a homeless, level-three sex offender. He has 247 days of county jail credit that will be applied to his sentence.

Groves, 46, pleaded guilty in July to commercial burglary and the same arson charge as King. Groves was sentenced to 20 years in the custody of the state Correction Department.

Welch, charged with the same counts as her co-defendants, is in a 13-month prevention program in Calion as part of her ongoing legal proceedings. She will be re-evaluated after graduating from the program in March.

Another defendant, Bobbi D. Waller of Emerson, also appeared in court last week after police found many of the stolen church items in her home, according to an affidavit filed Aug. 24, 2017. She was charged with theft by receiving valued between $1,000 and $5,000. Waller, 55, is awaiting evaluation for the Alternative Sentencing Program.