Manhunt for escaped Bibb jail inmates intensifies. 1 had role in Zodiac Lounge shooting

More than two days after four inmates escaped from the Bibb County jail, local authorities remained on high alert Wednesday for their whereabouts, and said they have enlisted the help of federal law enforcement.

The local authorities are warning residents to call authorities if they notice anything out of the ordinary.

“Right now, I wanna catch these guys. The most important thing, right now, is to get these four guys back in the Bibb County jail,” Sheriff David Davis said at a press conference Monday. “These individuals could be anywhere.”

The sheriff’s office enlisted to help of the U.S. Marshals Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force and the FBI to catch the escapees.

“We’ve worked on leads that we developed and that developed on their own overnight,” said Chris Wright, the senior inspector for the task force, Wednesday. No other updates were available.

The manhunt continues for all four, including for one of the inmates who served time in prison for his role in a high-profile 2013 Macon shooting, court records show.

Johnifer Barnwell, 37, escaped from the jail on Oglethorpe Street in downtown Macon at around 3 a.m. Monday when he and three other men pried open a window before breaking out through a hole in the fence, the sheriff’s office said.

The FBI’s Atlanta office said Tuesday that all questions should be directed to the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff David Davis said Monday that they had multiple leads in the case. Some have speculated that one of the fugitives, Joey Fournier, may be hiding in northwest Georgia as he did when he was first charged with murder last year.

“If you see something suspicious, or hear of anything suspicious, certainly look. If you hear somebody rumbling around in your shed, or in your garage, it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to call,” Davis said. “Typically in these situations they’ve already planned out getting out… so they may or may not even be in this area.”

The other two fugitives are Chavis Demaryo Stokes, 29, and Marc Kerry Anderson, 24.

Davis urged locals to report any information on the inmates to two tip lines at 478-310-4485 and 478-310-4502. A $1000 reward is offered for information that leads to their capture.

“I would think that anybody who’s escaped from the jail with these charges would be somebody that would not want to go back to jail,” Davis said. “Anybody that would try to stop them that is not ready to fight, it would probably be best to call.”

Barnwell, who Davis said was held at the Bibb jail until Monday for federal drug charges, previously spent time in prison after he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and violating Georgia gang laws in 2015.

The assault stemmed from his involvement in the 2013 Zodiac Lounge shooting in Macon, a gang-related murder case that attracted much media attention.

The Zodiac Lounge case

The 2013 incident at the Zodiac Lounge in downtown Macon was a gang fight that led to deadly gunfire, according to Telegraph archives. It started when members of the Westside Mafia gang beat up a man named Deion Davis in the club.

After the initial melee, John Hollingshed shot Davis multiple times, court documents show. Another gang member, Andre Bonner, shot and killed Jamonni Bland, 17, in a nearby parking deck. Bland was an innocent bystander and fled to the parking deck when the shooting started.

Bland’s slaying was one of the most widely-covered local homicides in 2013. The Telegraph published dozens of stories on the fatal fight at the club, archives show. The chaotic scene led to eight arrests, including Barnwell’s.

Barnwell did not pull the trigger in the shooting but pleaded guilty to his role in it, according to court documents, which consisted of helping Hollingshed retrieve a gun from a nearby car before the shooting.

Barnwell claimed in court that he did not help Hollingshed get the gun, but pleaded guilty because he could no longer afford a lawyer, according to Telegraph archives.

A superior court judge sentenced Bonner to life without parole in 2015 for Bland’s death after Hollingshed and other gang members testified. Hollingshed was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Barnwell was in prison until 2020, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections database.