Managing Editor

Aug. 19, 2000 10 PM

A 20-year-old Brundidge man is in the Pike County Jail on $100,000 bond following his arrest in Huntsville for attempted murder.

Iariannia D. Mency, also known as "Terry," was arrested in Huntsville Friday morning, less than 24 hours after police believe he walked into a Spee-Dee-C store on U.S. 231 between Troy and Brundidge and fired a gun multiple times into Wanda Senn, a clerk at the store.

Senn is in Jackson Hospital in Montgomery where she remains in intensive care. She is being treated for multiple gunshot wounds to the "upper torso" and her condition is critical, police sources say.

According to information released through Troy Police Chief Anthony Everage’s office, no motive in the case has been established.

"We are not ruling anything out at this point," said Sgt. Benny Scarbrough, public information officer for the Troy Police Department. "We will continue our investigation and questioning of the suspect and will release that information later when more facts of the case have been discovered."

Scarbrough would not comment on whether or not robbery or domestic violence are believed to be motives in the case. "Again, we are not ruling either of those possibilities out or in. We are not prepared to say at this time what the motive is."

Police were notified Thursday at 5:30 p.m. that there was a gunshot victim in the store through a phone call from a customer at Spee-Dee-C who walked into the store and found Senn suffering from wounds.

"This customer did everything right," Scarbrough said. "It was quick thinking and the right thing to do."

Officers responded to the scene where they found the clerk and immediately called for an ambulance. Haynes Ambulance Service transported Senn to Edge Regional Medical Center where she was stabilized and then taken to Montgomery for further treatment, Scarbrough said.

Spee-Dee-C has surveillance cameras, but Scarbrough wouldn’t release whether or not these played a part in identifying the suspect.

"There is evidence at the scene that we believe is crucial to this case," Scarbrough said. "Subsequent investigation will reveal more details that we can make available."

Friday morning, a warrant was issued for Mency’s arrest. By the time the warrant was issued, the Huntsville Police Department had apprehended him, acting on a tip from Troy officers that Mency was believed to be heading their way.

According to Wendell Johnson, public affairs administrator for the Huntsville Police Department, Mency was arrested at Hillside Village Apartments, an apartment complex in northwest Huntsville. He said the arrest occurred "without incident."

Following the arrest, Troy officers drove to Huntsville to serve the warrant on Mency and return him to Troy. Mency is jail on charges of attempted murder. His bond is $100,000.

Troy Police Chief Anthony Everage said cooperation from other law enforcement agencies made the arrest possible.

"I appreciate the assistance provided by the Brundidge Police Department, the Pike County Sheriff’s Department and the Huntsville Police Department," Everage said. "Their willingness to help us on this case made this arrest possible."

The shooting is the third this year in the Troy city limits. Only one shooting has resulted in a fatality.