JACKSON, Miss. — A man who escaped from a Mississippi jail along with three other inmates is suspected of killing a pastor who tried to help him after he wrecked a motorcycle in Jackson, authorities said Tuesday.
Anthony Watts, 61, was shot and killed Monday night around 7 p.m. on Interstate 55 after he pulled over to help a man who had wrecked a motorcycle. Police say that man shot Watts several times and then stole his Red Dodge Ram. Watts died at the scene.
“Based on information gathered from investigators, the suspect … fit the description of 22-year-old Dylan Arrington,” Jackson Police Chief James E. Davis said.
Watts was the head pastor of St. Mary Missionary Baptist Church in D’Lo, Mississippi, the Rev. Carl Burton, assistant pastor at the church, told NBC affiliate WLBT of Jackson on Tuesday.
“He was a good man, willing to do anything for anybody. And he showed that every day of his life,” Burton told the news station.
Arrington is one of four prisoners — along with Casey Grayson, Corey Harrison and Jerry Raynes — who escaped Saturday night from the Raymond Detention Center, a facility near Jackson, through breaches in a cell and the roof. Hinds County Sheriff Tyree Jones said the men might have camped out on the roof before fleeing the facility and going their separate ways.
The four were in custody for various felony charges, most involving theft. Arrington had charges of auto theft and illegal possession of a firearm, ABC affiliate WAPT of Jackson reported.
Watts’ stolen Red Dodge Ram, which has tan trim and Cowboys stickers on the front and the back, was last seen heading south on I-55 in Terry, Mississippi, police said.
Jones said one of the prisoners stole a Hinds County Public Works vehicle that was later recovered in a suburb of Houston. Investigators also believe a stolen Chevy Silverado is connected to the escape. None of the men had been captured as of Tuesday afternoon.
In July, a federal judge ordered a rare takeover of the jail after he said deficiencies in supervision and staffing led to “a stunning array of assaults, as well as deaths.” In December, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals stayed that order after the county filed a motion for reconsideration.
Chantal Da Silva contributed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
