Police in Mississippi have launched a manhunt for an accused murderer believed to have escaped from jail by climbing through a hole in the wall.
Malcolm Jamal Landfair was still on the run as of early Friday morning, after last being accounted for Thursday at 4 a.m., according to Hinds County Sheriff Victor Mason.
The 29-year-old prisoner is thought to have escaped with 19-year-old Gerome Montreal Moore, though was captured around 5 p.m. Thursday, according to the Jackson Clarion-Ledger.
Landfair was set for a trial in early July after being charged with the murder of Christopher Catchings at an apartment complex last year.
Mason believes that he and Moore used metal objects to make a hole in the wall of the jail and escape early Thursday morning.
The sheriff also criticized the jail as “thrown up overnight” and said that it was not fully staffed because five guards were on sick leave.
Landfair and Moore are thought to have had help, and authorities think that someone picked them up in a vehicle outside the jail.
The Hinds County Detention Center was also the site of four escapes last year.
Federal officials had criticized the facility and a jail in Jackson for not protecting inmates from violence and kept them passed their release dates, saying in part that they were understaffed.
As the prisoners were on the run on Thursday, a release from the Justice Department said that the feds had reached a deal with Hinds County for improvements including enhanced security.
With News Wire Services
Malcolm Jamal Landfair was still on the run as of early Friday morning, after last being accounted for Thursday at 4 a.m., according to Hinds County Sheriff Victor Mason.
The 29-year-old prisoner is thought to have escaped with 19-year-old Gerome Montreal Moore, though was captured around 5 p.m. Thursday, according to the Jackson Clarion-Ledger.
Landfair was set for a trial in early July after being charged with the murder of Christopher Catchings at an apartment complex last year.
Mason believes that he and Moore used metal objects to make a hole in the wall of the jail and escape early Thursday morning.
The sheriff also criticized the jail as “thrown up overnight” and said that it was not fully staffed because five guards were on sick leave.
Landfair and Moore are thought to have had help, and authorities think that someone picked them up in a vehicle outside the jail.
The Hinds County Detention Center was also the site of four escapes last year.
Federal officials had criticized the facility and a jail in Jackson for not protecting inmates from violence and kept them passed their release dates, saying in part that they were understaffed.
As the prisoners were on the run on Thursday, a release from the Justice Department said that the feds had reached a deal with Hinds County for improvements including enhanced security.
With News Wire Services
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