Four men being held at a central Georgia jail – including one being held on murder charges – escaped through broken windows and a cut fence early Monday morning, 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 press conference Monday, Davis said that prison staff noticed a breach in the perimeter fence around 6 a.m. After watching video footage, they discovered the four men were able to escape through a window in the second-floor day room and then through the fence around 3:30 a.m., he said. .
“They could be anywhere,” the sheriff said, adding that he was not aware of any relationship between the men before they entered the jail and did not know if they lived together once they escaped.
Video footage also shows a blue Dodge Challenger outside the prison earlier in the night and appears to show someone tampering with the fence.
A blue Dodge Challenger outside a central Georgia prison is shown, as authorities are looking to speak to the driver of the vehicle for possible involvement in the escape. AP
The person then took several items into an enclosed area, and the sheriff said investigators believe the items were used to help the man escape. He did not say what the item was.
Davis said it was unclear whether the four men left the jail in the car or in another vehicle or whether they left on foot, but authorities wanted 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.”
Joey Fournier (left) and Marc Kerry Anderson (right), two of four men who were held at a central Georgia prison and escaped, are shown.AP
They are asking anyone with information on their 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 man’s recapture.
The sheriff’s office provided a description of the four men:
Fournier, 52, is a white male with gray hair and blue eyes who is 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighs 140 pounds.
He was arrested on murder charges after he was accused of killing his ex-girlfriend in February 2022, according to local news outlets.
Anderson, 24, is a black man with dreadlocks and is 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighs 165 pounds. He was charged with aggravated assault.
Chavis Demaryo Stokes (left) and Johnifer Dernard Barnwell (right) are shown.AP
Barnwell, 37, is a black man with braids and is 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighs 190 pounds. He was held for the US Marshals Service on drug charges.
Stokes, 29, is a black man with short black hair who is 5 feet, 7 inches tall and weighs 160 pounds. He was arrested on charges of possession of firearms and drug trafficking.
Fournier and Anderson do not have attorneys listed in online court records.
An attorney listed for Stokes did not immediately return an email Monday seeking comment about the charges against him and the alleged escape.
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A lawyer for Barnwell said he had no comment.
“Right now my focus is on getting this individual back in jail, and we’re going to dissect what happened and fix it as we go along,” Davis said.
Sometimes the day room isn’t locked at night, but it’s usually not an issue because inmates are supposed to be in beds in other parts of the jail, Davis said.
He said they are looking into how the man got into the day room.
At the time of the escape, there were fewer than 10 people working at the jail, which houses “a little over 800 inmates,” the sheriff said.
Ideally, there would be 30 people working each shift, but they haven’t had that level of staffing for a long time, and sometimes only six or eight people, Davis said.
Staffing is not the only issue, he said.
The 43-year-old prison is “letting us down” and the escape happened in the oldest and most run-down section of the prison, Davis said.
He said an internal investigation would determine what exactly led to the escape: “We will look into what happened last night.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
