Mom of teen girl suspected in crime spree arrested

LEITCHFIELD, Ky. - The mother of one of the two teenage sweethearts from Kentucky who are suspected in a multi-state crime spree of stolen vehicles and pilfered checks has been arrested.

Sherry Peters is accused of taking 13-year-old Cheyenne Phillips from her father's house when she did not have the custodial rights to do so, according to an arrest warrant provided by Grayson County Detention Center Chief Deputy Bo Thorpe. Peters was arrested Monday.

Cheyenne Phillips was found with her boyfriend, 18-year-old Dalton Hayes, on Saturday night in a stolen truck in Florida.

Thorpe says the 13-year-old's mother has declined media interview requests. A county court official says Peters is scheduled for a hearing Thursday morning.

Hayes is in jail awaiting extradition to Kentucky. Cheyenne Phillips was taken to a safe house, where arrangements will be made for her return home.

In a jailhouse interview published Tuesday, Hayes told The News Herald of Panama City that he and Phillips were trying to escape Phillips' family, who was beating her. Hayes said they planned to make it to Miami.

"All I had to do was tell her to go home and none of this would've happened, but it's hard to tell someone getting beat on to go home," Hayes told the paper. "But, if I could go back, I'd be paying for bus rides instead of stealing trucks."

Grayson County Sheriff Norman Chaffins told the Associated Press the abuse allegations are "something we'll talk about when [the teens] get back to Kentucky."

Shawn Phillips, Cheyenne Phillips' father, said Tuesday that claims his daughter was abused at home are "completely bogus."