A manhunt is currently underway in Mississippi after two inmates, both charged with murder, escaped from a local jail. The escape has prompted a massive search effort by law enforcement agencies, who have labeled the fugitives as “dangerous.”
The escape occurred around 2 a.m. on Sunday. The inmates, identified as William Carter, 27, and Joseph Latamondeer, 41, managed to break out of the Pemiscot County Jail. According to local authorities, the two prisoners escaped through an air duct, set off an alarm, and then jumped over a fence behind the building. Surveillance footage captured them heading towards the Mississippi River.
William Carter is facing first-degree murder charges. Investigators allege that he intentionally ran down his estranged wife and another man with his car, resulting in their deaths. Joseph Latamondeer was being held on several felony charges, including an alleged kidnapping related to a violent domestic assault case. Both inmates were scheduled to appear in court on Monday.
Captain Michael Coleman of the Pemiscot County Sheriff’s Office stated that authorities believe the two escapees are still in the area. A search team, equipped with dogs, is actively looking for them. The police have warned the public that the two men are considered dangerous.
In a related incident, the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center experienced a similar escape. Two inmates, Ameen Hurst, 18, and Nasir Grant, 24, managed to break out of the facility by cutting a hole in a fence surrounding a recreation yard. The escape occurred around 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, but the inmates were not discovered missing until nearly 19 hours later.
The Philadelphia prison system has been grappling with severe staffing shortages, which have exacerbated security issues. David Robinson, president of the public service employees union’s District 33 Council, stated that the prison has not had armed perimeter guards on duty during the nighttime shift for eight or nine months. When fully staffed, two corrections officers would be assigned to each housing unit. However, due to staffing shortages, the prison has often had only one officer per unit, and sometimes one officer monitoring multiple units.
Robinson has been vocal about the staffing and safety issues for years, warning that such an incident was inevitable. He emphasized that vital posts were cut, which could have prevented the escape. The executive staff of the Philadelphia Prisons Department, however, categorically denied claims that staffing shortages enabled the escape.
Philadelphia Prisons Department Commissioner Blanche Carney acknowledged that protocols were not followed. Headcounts conducted at 11 p.m. on Sunday, 3 a.m. on Monday, and 7 a.m. on Monday reportedly showed that all prisoners were accounted for. It wasn’t until about 3 p.m. on Monday that prison staff realized the inmates were missing. An ongoing investigation is reviewing staffing assignments and security tapes to determine what went wrong.
Ameen Hurst, one of the escapees, was arrested in March 2021 and is accused of multiple shootings, including a fatal shooting on Christmas Eve 2020. Nasir Grant was being held on conspiracy drug charges and conspiracy weapons charges. Both inmates were housed in the same unit but in different cells.
The Philadelphia prison system’s staffing issues have been a long-standing concern. The department is currently more than 800 officers short, which is about 40% below the city-approved deployment plan. This shortage has put immense stress on the officers present and has affected the day-to-day functioning of the jails.
Noah Barth, the prison monitoring director for the Pennsylvania Prison Society, an independent organization that monitors conditions in jails and prisons across the state, highlighted the dangerous situations arising from the staffing shortages. He mentioned that new officers are working extended overtime shifts, which further exacerbates the problem.
Robinson revealed that the council issued a no-confidence vote on Commissioner Carney on May 2, which was unanimously supported by the membership. He also questioned why an inmate facing charges in four murders wasn’t housed at the Curran-Fromhold Corrections Center, which has a concrete wall rather than a fence.
The manhunt for the escaped inmates continues, with law enforcement agencies urging the public to remain vigilant and report any sightings of the fugitives. The situation has raised serious concerns about the security and staffing levels in correctional facilities, prompting calls for immediate action to address these issues.
Source: WLBT, ABC News, The Associated Press
