On Monday morning, four convicts from a jail in central Georgia escaped via a shattered window and a damaged fence, including one who was being detained on a murder charge.
Bibb County Sheriff David Davis named Johnifer Dernard Barnwell, Chavis Demaryo Stokes, and Marc Kerry Anderson. Joey Fournier was also a part of the group.
Davis said during a news conference on Monday that the break in the facility’s perimeter fence was found about 6 a.m. by prison guards. He said that security footage showed the four convicts escaping at 3:30 a.m. via a window in a second-floor dayroom and then over a fence.
“They could be anywhere,” according to the sheriff, because he has no information if the convicts stayed together following their escape or if they had any links before they were detained.
A blue Dodge Challenger was spotted parked outside the jail earlier in the evening on security video, and there appeared to be some type of fence tampering going on. The man then brought in some items, which the sheriff suspects were used to help the men flee. He didn’t say anything about the merchandise.
Davis said it’s unknown if the four guys fled in the Challenger or another car, on foot, or in some other way, but authorities want to talk with the driver.
The sheriff described the search for the four suspects as a “all hands on deck situation.” If you have any information regarding their whereabouts, please contact the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office or Macon Regional Crime Stoppers. A $1,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the men’s apprehension.
The sheriff’s department described the four suspects as follows:
Fournier is a 52-year-old Caucasian man with gray hair and blue eyes who stands 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs 140 pounds. According to local news outlets, he was arrested for murder in February 2022 after being accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend.
Anderson, a 24-year-old Black man, is 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs 165 pounds. He’s got dreadlocks. One of the counts against him is aggravated assault.
Barnwell, a 37-year-old Black man with braided hair, stands 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs 190 pounds. On drug charges, the US Marshals Service held him in jail.
Stokes, 29, is a Black male who is 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighs 160 pounds, and has short black hair. He was detained on suspicion of narcotics trafficking and having a firearm.
According on the information provided, neither Fournier nor Anderson had legal representation. On Monday, an email was sent to an attorney representing Stokes asking comment, but no answer was received. Barnwell’s attorney declined to comment on the matter.
“Right now my focus is getting these individuals back in the jail, and we’ll dissect what happened and fix that as we move forward,” Davis said in a statement.
According to Davis, convicts are supposed to sleep in another portion of the institution, therefore the fact that the dayrooms are not closed at night is normally not a concern. He told them that the men’s access to the dayroom is being investigated.
According to the sheriff, the prison, which accommodates “a little over 800 detainees,” had less than ten workers at the time of the breakout. According to Davis, they should have 30 personnel working every shift, but they generally only have six or eight people, and sometimes even less.
He highlighted that personnel was not the primary issue. The jail, according to Davis, was “falling down on us” owing to its age and condition, and the breakout took place in the facility’s most deteriorated wing.
He indicated that an internal investigation would be conducted to discover the cause of the escape. The occurrences of last night will be thoroughly probed.
