Georgia law enforcement officials on Saturday captured the last of four men who escaped from a county jail a month ago.
Bibb County Sheriff David Davis said law enforcement officials apprehended Joey Fournier, 52, just before noon on Saturday near Stockbridge, a suburb of Atlanta which is about 65 miles from the Macon jail Fournier and the others escaped on Oct. 16.
On Facebook, the sheriff’s office posted a short video that appears to show Fournier being escorted into the Bibb County Law Enforcement Center, in Macon. He was being held at the jail on charges he killed his ex-girlfriend. Authorities say he carried out her murder using a shoelace in 2022. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
In October, Fournier escaped the jail with three others by jumping from a broken second-floor window and running through a cut fence, the sheriff’s office said. Officials believed a blue Dodge Challenger picked up the men to help them flee.
“We are grateful that this last escapee has been captured,” Davis said in a statement. “My heartfelt appreciation goes out to all of the (hard-working) law enforcement officers from the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office and from all of our partner agencies who worked tirelessly to bring these four fugitives back into custody.”
Officials earlier this week apprehended another man who escaped, Johnifer Dernard Barnwell, 37, at a home in Augusta. Officials said they found “drugs of trafficking quantity” inside the home. Barnwell had been serving a 15-year concurrent sentence since 2013 for violating Georgia’s street gang terrorism and prevention act, as well as for felony aggravated assault.
Two other escapees were found in the past few weeks, Chavis Demaryo Stokes on Oct. 26 and Marc Kerry Anderson on Nov. 3. Stokes, 29, had been detained on charges of possessing a firearm and drug trafficking, and other charges. Anderson, 25, has been held since 2020 after being accused of firing a gun into a person’s car and two people’s homes, court records show.
Source : USA Today
