9 inmates charged with arson in Charles B. Webster Detention Center fire in Augusta

Alexandra Koch, Augusta Chronicle
·3 min read
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Nine Augusta inmates were charged with arson following a recent riot at the Charles B. Webster Detention Center.

Just before 3:45 p.m. on Oct. 5, Richmond County Sheriff's Office investigators were notified there was an arson at the Charles B. Webster Detention Center or Phinizy Road.

Investigators were told there was a fire in two inmate rooms and the fire suppression system activated, according to an incident report. Water covered the entire cell block floor.

A deputy jailer told investigators he was in the control tower when an inmate in one of the rooms, Hezekiah Smith, started beating on the window to get his attention and said there was a fire, according to the report.

Jailers found both rooms on fire, with a sheet filled with items on fire in one room and an orange jumpsuit on fire in the other, according to the report. The inmates in both rooms were evacuated and taken to the transportation office.

The jailers were able to put out the fire with a wet blanket, according to the report. Investigators found a burnt cloth hanging from a light fixture in one of the rooms and found wet ash on the floor.

All of the inmates assigned to the rooms where the fire occurred declined to provide a statement to investigators about what happened, according to the report.

The following inmates are charged with arson in the first degree, interference with government property and riot in a penal institution:

  • Kendrick Green, 18 – charged with the murder of 27-year-old Donnel Graham on March 10, 2020. He is also charged with simple battery, four counts of aggravated assault, aggravated battery, two counts of inmate possession of drugs or weapons and possession of deadly weapons by an inmate. Green was accused of stabbing an 18-year-old inmate in June, according to previous reporting.

  • Isaac Naji, 21 – charged with felony theft, financial transaction card fraud, felony entering a vehicle, two counts of inmate possession of drugs or weapons and three counts of possession of deadly weapons by an inmate.

  • Maurice Folsom, 22 – charged with armed robbery, possession of a firearm or knife during a crime, felony criminal attempt, reckless conduct, possession of synthetic narcotics and two counts of possession of deadly weapons by an inmate.

  • Michael Campbell, 20 – charged with felony obstruction of a law enforcement officer and possession of deadly weapons by an inmate, aggravated assault.

  • De Quinn Hamlin, 36 – charged with murder, kidnapping, possession of a firearm or knife during a crime, possession of deadly weapons by an inmate and aggravated assault.

  • Delvecchio Jones, 24 – charged with six counts of possession of a firearm or knife during a crime, five counts of aggravated assault and two counts of armed robbery.

  • Jahte McKennie, 23 – charged with aggravated assault, aggravated battery and possession of a firearm or knife during a crime. He is charged with shooting a 21-year-old woman at Green Meadows Apartments in Augusta on Aug. 27, according to previous reporting.

  • Dashawn Berrien, 20 – charged with aggravated assault in connection to a 2020 shooting, possession of a firearm or knife during a crime and four counts of possession of deadly weapons by an inmate. Berrien is one of three inmates charged with stabbing another inmate in May 2023.

  • James Robinson, 29 – charged with murder, unlawful street gang activity, robbery by force, gambling, possession of a firearm or knife during a crime and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

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This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Nearly a dozen inmates charged with arson at Richmond County jail