BOLIVAR, Tenn. - The widow and mother of a Mississippi man who kidnapped two Tennessee girls and murdered their mother and sister have pleaded guilty to their roles in the crimes.
WMC-TV reports Teresa Mayes pleaded guilty toay to second-degree murder in the deaths of Jo An Bain and her 14-year-old daughter, Adrienne. She also pleaded guilty to kidnapping in the April 2012 abduction of sisters Alexandria and Kyliyah, who were 12 and 8 at the time, from their Whiteville home.
Mayes was sentenced to 35 years at the hearing in Bolivar. Her mother-in-law, Mary Mayes, pleaded guilty to kidnapping and was sentenced to 13 ½ years. Authorities have said Mary Mayes knew about the kidnapping but did not tell anyone.
In a statement read in court last October, Teresa Mayes said her husband, Adam Mayes, threatened to kill her if she did not help him.
She said her husband hit Jo Ann Bain in the head with a board and strangled her with a rope, then smothered Adrienne. Adam Mayes also claimed to have drugged Gary Bain, the husband and father of the family, to ensure he couldn't stop the attack.
Teresa Mayes said her husband planned the crimes because he was infatuated with Alexandria and feared losing her because her family was planning to move to Arizona.
Authorities have said Adam and Teresa Mayes drove from Tennessee to their home in Guntown, Miss., with the bodies of Jo Ann and Adrienne Bain and the two surviving girls. After arriving in town, Adam Mayes fled with Alexandria and Kyliyah Bain into the north Mississippi woods.
The bodies of Jo Ann Bain and her oldest daughter were found buried in the backyard of the home, authorities said.
The FBI and other law enforcement agencies conducted an intense search for Adam Mayes, who fatally shot himself as a SWAT team approached him in the woods near a church May 10.
The kidnapped girls were rescued safely.