TIPTONVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A man serving a life sentence for killing his co-worker four years ago escaped from a northwest Tennessee prison by slipping through a fence, authorities said.
Authorities realized Jacob Morley, 28, was missing around 11:30 p.m. Sunday at the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, the Tennessee Department of Corrections said in a statement. a declaration.
Investigators watched security cameras and saw Morley escape while wearing his prison uniform, officials said. They did not release any other details, including how Morley got over the fence.
Prison officials have offered a reward of up to $2,500 for Morley’s arrest. They said law enforcement agencies across the region searched buildings and other structures near the prison about 90 miles (145 kilometers) north of Memphis, in a remote rural area of flat land nestled near a bend of the Mississippi River near Missouri.
Morley is 5 feet 11 inches (1.8 meters) tall and weighs 240 pounds (109 kilograms). He has brown hair and green eyes.
Morley was sentenced to life in prison for killing co-worker Cody Birchfield in 2022. Birchfield’s body was found in a box under Morley’s Carter County home after he went missing for a few weeks.
In addition to first-degree murder, Morley was also convicted of aggravated burglary, tampering with evidence, vandalism and evading arrest. When Morley saw deputies at his home in 2022, he led police on a chase that ended in North Carolina, authorities said.
Several violent attacks between inmates and between employees have been reported in recent years at the Northwest Correctional Complex. In July, a grand jury returned dozens of indictments for five inmate murders, assaults on staff and inmates and other violence.
The Northwest Correctional Complex can house 1,776 men and juveniles who were convicted as adults, according to the Department of Correction. In 2023, a check of Tennessee Prisons found that the department was struggling to fill prison vacancies and had a 61 percent vacancy rate for correctional officers this fiscal year.
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