It was reported that Jacob Morley, who was serving a life sentence in the Northwest Correctional Complex Prison in the US state of Tennessee, escaped.
According to the statement made by the Tennessee Department of Corrections, it was noticed that 28-year-old Morley was not in prison around 23:30 on Sunday.
Authorities examined the security cameras and determined that the convict escaped by passing through the wire fences in his prison uniform.
Detailed information was not shared about how Morley broke through the security fences.
The prison administration announced that a reward of up to $2,500 will be offered for information leading to the capture of Morley.
After the escape, security forces started a search in the buildings and other structures around the prison.
The prison where the escape took place is located in a rural area where the Mississippi River bends, near the Missouri border, about 145 kilometers north of the city of Memphis.
Authorities said Morley was 1.80 meters tall, weighed approximately 109 kilograms, and had brown hair and green eyes.
HE KILLED HIS CO-WORKER AND hid HIS BODY UNDER HIS HOUSE
Jacob Morley was convicted of murdering his co-worker Cody Birchfield in 2022 and sentenced to life in prison.
Birchfield's lifeless body was discovered in a box under Morley's home in Carter County after being searched for weeks as missing.
In addition to first-degree murder, Morley was also convicted of aggravated violation of residential immunity, tampering with evidence, damaging property and fleeing to avoid capture.
It was revealed that Morley also tried to escape from security forces during the murder investigation in 2022.
According to the authorities, Morley, who saw the police teams coming to his house, started to escape with the vehicle.
The chase between the police and the suspect crossed the borders of the state of Tennessee and ended in North Carolina.
Morley was later caught, tried and sentenced to life imprisonment.
THERE HAVE BEEN VIOLENT INCIDENTS IN THE PRISON BEFORE
Northwest Correctional Complex Prison, where Morley escaped, has also been on the agenda with violent incidents in recent years.
Various assaults between inmates and involving staff have been reported at the prison.
A grand jury in July indicted dozens of indictments in the killings of five inmates, attacks on prison staff and inmates and other violence.
According to data from the Tennessee Department of Corrections, Northwest Correctional Complex has a capacity of 1,776 male inmates.
Prisoners under the age of 18 who have been tried and convicted as adults can also be held in prison.
On the other hand, the audit report prepared for Tennessee prisons in 2023 revealed that there was a serious lack of personnel in the institution in question.
According to the report, 61 percent of the correctional officer positions in the prison were vacant in the relevant fiscal year.
Authorities did not say whether there was a connection between Morley's escape and the personnel shortage identified in the past.
The investigation into how the escape took place and the search initiated to capture the convict are continuing.
