Three out of the four men who escaped from a Georgia jail last month have been returned to authorities, with the third man captured on Sunday morning.
Johnifer Dernard Barnwell, 37, was taken into custody from a home in Augusta, Georgia, where police found large quantities of drugs, the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post. The sheriff’s office said the amount of drugs was “of trafficking quantity” and were recovered from the home.
Barnwell was being detained for the United States Marshals when he and three other inmates escaped from the Bibb County Detention Center on the morning of October 16 through a damaged day room window and a cut fence, the Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post at the time. The escape occurred around 3:00 a.m., with a blue Dodge Challenger pulling up outside the jail and transporting the inmates away.
Ten days after the men escaped, one of the escapees, Chavis Stokes, was taken into custody. He was being held for possession of a firearm and drug trafficking before the escape. Another escaped prisoner, Marc Anderson, who was being held for aggravated assault, was captured on November 3.
That leaves Joey Fournier, 52, as the only remaining escapee still on the run. Fournier is a white male with gray hair and blue eyes who was being held at the detention center on allegations of murder. He is the only escapee who was being held for murder.
When Anderson was captured, authorities also arrested 32-year-old Tymesha Timley, who was accused of hindering Anderson’s arrest. On Tuesday, two more women – Jacorshia Smith, 30, and Janecia Green, 30 – were arrested for allegedly helping the inmates escape, though no additional details about their involvement have been given.
In late October, Jakaylen Williams, 24, was arrested for allegedly stealing the blue Dodge Challenger used to help the four inmates escape.
Williams was in possession of the vehicle when police found it on October 20, the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post. He was charged with four counts of aiding or permitting another to escape lawful custody or confinement, theft by receiving stolen property, and a probation violation. He was also arrested on warrants for aggravated assault, criminal trespass, and battery family violence in an unrelated case.
Another man, Christian Demond Williams (no relation), died October 24 at a hospital in Macon, Georgia, after shooting himself when the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force arrived at an apartment in Macon to question him about the four escaped inmates, the Associated Press reported, citing Bibb County authorities.
Investigators had received a tip that Christian had information about the escapees, and when they arrived at the apartment, a bullet fired through the door, according to law enforcement. A SWAT team was called, and a woman inside the apartment told officers that Christian had shot himself and showed authorities where he was. Christian was wounded but still alive and was taken to the hospital in critical condition, where he died.
Christian turned out to be a fugitive suspected of murder and had been missing since March 5, the night before he was supposed to be tried for the alleged crime. Christian was accused of shooting to death a man at a convenience store in 2021.
The Sheriff’s Office asked anyone with information about the possible location of these inmates to call the FBI’s tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI or the United States Marshal Service at 1-877-WANTED2. Tips may be submitted online at tips.fbi.gov or through the USMS Tips app.