Alissa Zhu
Clarion Ledger
ROSSVILLE, Tenn. — The Mississippi Department of Corrections has announced that escaped inmate Dillion Williams has been captured.
The 27-year-old was taken into custody without incident in a wooded area in Rossville, Tennessee, east of Memphis, shortly after 2 p.m. Monday. He was found in the same vicinity as escapee David May, 42, who was arrested early Sunday, a news release from MDOC said.
Williams had escaped from the Mississippi Penitentiary at Parchman during a statewide lockdown marked by deadly violence.
Over the weekend, the Mississippi Department of Corrections announced Williams and May were discovered missing from Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman early Saturday morning. On Monday, Mississippi Crime Stoppers and the U.S. Marshals Service announced a $5,000 reward for Information leading to the capture of Williams, according to a press release from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations.
May was captured early Sunday morning by law enforcement, said a statement from the MBI, and a 2011 GMC pickup truck used in the escape was also recovered.
Williams was convicted in Marshall County for aggravated assault and residential burglary.
May was convicted in Harrison County for aggravated assault and has a prior record of possession of a controlled substance, burglary, jail escape and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Prisons statewide went on lockdown on Dec. 29, after an inmate was killed and two others were injured at South Mississippi Correctional Institution. In the following days, violence erupted across the state, leaving four more inmates dead. MDOC has refused to say how many inmates have been injured.
Sunflower County Coroner Heather Burton, the coroner who responds to deaths at Parchman, said Friday “gangs are at war.”
Gov. Phil Bryant tweeted Monday that he has been working through the weekend with MDOC, Mississippi Highway Patrol and Mississippi Emergency Management Agency “to restore order and control” at Parchman.
“Some MHP Officers continue to process the scene to recover any contraband or items that may be used as a weapon,” Bryant said. “Inmate needs are being met, and I have ordered the investigations to continue.”