A “person of interest” in the homicide of Anthony Vital has been found and arrested, officials said Monday.

Major Edwards was found Sunday in a hotel in Verona, Miss., a small town outside of Tupelo. He was arrested by Mississippi officers on a federal warrant for being in possession of a firearm and ammunition by Mississippi law enforcement.

Douglas County Sheriff’s deputies were in the area at the time of the arrest, officials said.

According to Deputy U.S. Marshal Matt Cahill, Edwards is in Tupelo and could be moved as early as Monday afternoon to Oxford, Miss. where he will be charged. The possible penalty for a convicted felon with a firearm or ammunition is not more than 10 years and not more than $250,000.

Douglas County law enforcement has sought Edwards, 27, after Vital, 28, was found dead Oct. 15 in a field two miles west of Lawrence.

According to new documents filed in federal court in the case against Edwards, Vital died of “multiple gunshots.”

According to the complaint in the firearms case, sheriff’s deputies began looking for Edwards after Vital’s widow told them she’d last seen her husband around 9 p.m. Oct. 14, when he left their Lawrence home to go out with Edwards.

One of the sheriff’s deputies investigating the case, Scott Bonham, then spoke to an informant who said he’d seen Edwards in possession of a .38 caliber revolver- something he’s barred from having because of a felony conviction for sale of cocaine. Another informant told police that Edwards had been living with his girlfriend in the 500 block of Florida street, which led officers to execute a search warrant for the home last Tuesday.

Inside the home, officers found eight .22 caliber bullets wrapped in a paper towel in a kitchen drawer and an empty plastic gun case. Bonham and Lawrence Police Det. Mike McAtee also spoke with Edwards’ girlfriend, who said she’d seen him with two guns recently, according to the complaint.

Bonham traced the serial number found on the gun case to a handgun bought at a pawn shop in Ottawa on Oct. 4 by another of Edwards’ girlfriends, according to the complaint. The woman told officers she’d bought a .22 caliber handgun for Edwards under an altered name in August or September and that Edwards “said that he wanted the gun for protection,” according to the complaint. On Oct. 4, she said, she went back to the pawn shop with Edwards and traded in the .22 for the .38.

Edwards, who has a conviction for sale of cocaine, is well-known in local law enforcement circles. In 2005, he was found not guilty at trial of aggravated burglary, kidnapping, intimidation of a witness and battery.

He has three separate battery cases pending in District Court.

The sheriff’s office said Monday it is still seeking information about a 1988 maroon Ford Thunderbird that may be associated with Vital’s death. The vehicle has the personalized license plate “JVOLA.”