Four men held in a central Georgia jail, including one accused of murder, escaped through a damaged window and a cut fence early Monday, authorities said.
Bibb County Sheriff David Davis identified the four as Joey Fournier, Marc Kerry Anderson, Johnifer Dernard Barnwell and Chavis Demaryo Stokes.
During a news conference Monday, Davis said jail staff noticed a break in the perimeter fence around 6 a.m. After viewing video footage, they discovered that the four men were able to escape through a window in a second-floor social room and then through the surrounding fence. 3:30 am, she said.
“They could be anywhere,” the sheriff said, adding that he was not aware of any connection between the men before they entered the jail and does not know if they remained together once they escaped.
Video footage also showed a blue Dodge Challenger that had been outside the jail earlier that night and appeared to show someone tampering with the fence.
A blue Dodge Challenger is pictured outside the Georgia Central Jail, as authorities seek to speak to the driver of the vehicle about his possible involvement in the escape. AP
That person then brought some items into the closed area and the sheriff said investigators believe the items were used to help the men escape. He did not say what the items were.
Davis said it’s unclear whether the four men left the jail in that car or another vehicle or on foot, but authorities would like to speak with the driver of the Challenger.
Local, state and federal authorities are searching for the four men in what the sheriff called an “all hands on deck situation.”
Shown are Joey Fournier (left) and Marc Kerry Anderson (right), two of four men who were being held in a central Georgia jail and escaped.AP
They ask anyone with information about his whereabouts to contact the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office or Macon Regional Crime Stoppers.
A $1,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the men’s recapture.
The sheriff’s office provided descriptions of the four men:
Fournier, 52, is a white man with gray hair and blue eyes who is 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighs 140 pounds.
He was being held for murder after being accused of killing his ex-girlfriend in February 2022, according to local media.
Anderson, 24, is a black man with dreadlocks, is 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs 165 pounds. He is charged with aggravated assault.
Shown are Chavis Demaryo Stokes (left) and Johnifer Dernard Barnwell (right).AP
Barnwell, 37, is a black man with braids, is 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs 190 pounds. He was being held by the U.S. Marshals Service on drug charges.
Stokes, 29, is a black man with short black hair, is 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighs 160 pounds. He was detained for the crimes of possession of a firearm and drug trafficking.
Fournier and Anderson did not have attorneys listed in online court records.
An attorney for Stokes did not immediately respond Monday to an email seeking comment on the charges against him and the alleged escape.
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A lawyer for Barnwell said he had no comment.
“Right now my goal is to get these individuals back in jail, and we’ll look at what happened and fix it as we go,” Davis said.
Sometimes the day rooms are not locked at night, but that is not usually a problem because detainees are supposed to be in bed in another part of the jail, Davis said.
He said they are investigating how the men were able to get into the living room.
At the time of the escape, there were fewer than 10 people working at the jail, which houses “a little over 800 detainees,” the sheriff said.
Ideally there would be 30 people working per shift, but they haven’t had staffing levels like that for a long time and sometimes it’s as few as six or eight people, Davis said.
Staffing is not the only problem, he said.
The 43-year-old prison “is falling on us” and the escape occurred in the oldest, most deteriorated part of the prison, Davis said.
He said an internal investigation will determine what exactly led to the escape: “We’re going to dig deeper into what happened last night.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn