Fourth and final escaped inmate from a Georgia county jail captured

Raja Razek, CNN
·2 min read
7

The last of four inmates who escaped from a central Georgia county jail last month has been taken back into custody, according to a news release from the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office.

Joey Fournier, 52, of Macon was “apprehended near Stockbridge, Georgia just before noon on Saturday,” the news release read.

Later today, the escapee, who is accused of murder, will be returned to the Bibb County Law Enforcement Center, according to the release.

“We are grateful that this last escapee has been captured. My heartfelt appreciation goes out to all of the hard-working law enforcement officers from the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office and from all of our partner agencies who worked tirelessly to bring these four fugitives back into custody,” Bibb County Sheriff David Davis said in the release.

In the early hours of October 16, four inmates escaped through a damaged window in an interview room and a cut in a fence at the Bibb County Detention Center, the sheriff’s office had said. At the time, authorities said someone driving a blue Dodge Challenger in the parking lot near the fence appeared to aid the escape, CNN previously reported.

The inmates’ return to custody follows a monthlong manhunt. Last Sunday, Johnifer Dernard Barnwell, 37, was taken back into custody. He had been found at a home in Augusta, Georgia, where large amounts of drugs of “trafficking quantity” were also recovered. At the time of his escape, Barnwell was being held for the US Marshals Service after being convicted on federal charges related to the “armed distribution of large quantities of drugs,” per the US Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia.

The two other inmates, Chavis Demaryo Stokes, 29, and Marc Kerry Anderson, 25, were caught in Montezuma, and Atlanta, Georgia, respectively.

The men began their escape in the oldest part of the 43-year-old facility and at a time when fewer than 10 jail personnel were on duty, Sheriff Davis said. The department has begun to make staffing changes at the facility, he noted, and an internal investigation is underway.

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