Victim of Sikeston home invasion speaks

SIKESTON, Mo. -- A Sikeston man said he repelled four armed robbers who invaded his home Tuesday.

At about 11:11 a.m., the Sikeston Department of Public Safety responded to a report of an armed robbery in the 900 block of Lake Street.

Stanley Abernathy, 61, said three white women and a black man brandishing a handgun entered his home through an unlocked door that morning.

"He kept asking for drugs," Abernathy said.

Many victims prefer not to be named in media reports, but Abernathy was happy to provide details.

"I fought back," he said. "He kept saying, 'Go down to the basement, go down to the basement,' but I wasn't going anywhere with him. He said, 'I'll kill you. I'll kill you.' I said, 'Go ahead and kill me.'"

The man attempted to "pistol whip" Abernathy, he said, but he stood up and fended him off. Abernathy said, at one point he thought they might be after his pain medication.

"They were looking for drugs," he said, but they ended up taking just his cellphone.

Abernathy said the man went down to the basement, which Abernathy rents out, without him.

"He went down and robbed them," Abernathy said. "He had them on their knees with their hands up, [my renter] told me later after it was over."

Abernathy, meanwhile, was trying to keep his cellphone.

"They had to wrestle me for it. I didn't give them anything," he said. "One was trying to get the phone out of my hand. One of them tried to stab me in the back with a knife. I grabbed her hand."

The four suspects fled the scene in a vehicle police later pulled over. Arrested after the vehicle stop were three East Prairie women: Ashley Hunt, 30; Carrie Mehrer, 41; and Sarah Haddock, 30.

All three are facing felony charges of robbery and burglary and a misdemeanor theft charge.

A white man also was detained but investigators determined he was not involved and was released.

Hunt and Mehrer remained in custody in the Mississippi County Detention Center on Friday with a cash or surety bond set at $75,000.

Haddock initially was released after posting bond on a previous outstanding warrant before the robbery and burglary charges were filed against her by the Scott County prosecuting attorney.

A Mississippi County sheriff's deputy arrested Haddock on Thursday afternoon.

Haddock was back in the Mississippi County Detention Center on Friday with a cash or surety bond set at $75,000.

While Abernathy was hoping to hear the man had been found, he had a more pressing concern to discuss with police: "I'm trying to get my phone back."

Pertinent address:

900 block of Lake Street, Sikeston, Mo.