Parchman escapee from Marshall Co. captured

Two state inmates who escaped last weekend from the Mississippi Penitentiary at Parchman are back in custody. One of those is from Marshall County.

Dillion Williams, 27, came up missing at 1:45 a.m. Saturday, according to the Mississippi Department of Corrections. He was serving a 40-year sentence for residential burglary and aggravated assault in Marshall County. The incident occurred in late February 2010. An elderly lady was beaten and robbed in her home near Mt. Pleasant.

Williams was captured Monday afternoon without incident in a wooded area near Rossville, Tenn., according to a press release from MDOC.

The other prisoner who escaped at the same time, David May, 42, was captured first and back in custody Sunday morning, according to MDOC. He, too, was found in the same vicinity where Williams was located. May is serving a life sentence for two aggravated assault convictions in Harrison County.

Their escape came during a week of violence, much of it gang-related, in Mississippi prisons.

Federal, state, county, and local authorities in Mississippi and Tennessee coordinated efforts to capture May and Williams.

“We are thankful for the coordinated efforts to capture these two violent offenders without incident,” MDOC Commissioner Pelicia E. Hall said. “We partnered with numerous agencies to put them back behind bars where they should be. The total team effort is responsible for this ending.”

How the men escaped and ended up more than 100 miles away is part of an ongoing investigation, according to an MDOC press release.

Prison deaths

Denorris Howell, 36, of Marshall County, was one of five state prison inmates who were killed last week.

Howell was serving a 17-year sentence at Parchman for manslaughter in the July 2010 shooting death of LaKeith Jones of Marshall County. He was convicted by a Marshall County jury in September 2012.

Howell got into a fight with his cellmate Friday morning, according to press reports. He later died from his injuries in the Parchman facility’s hospital, MDOC officials reported.

Howell’s death was the third at Parchman last week and the fifth at correctional facilities statewide. His obituary is on Page 2.

All Mississippi prisons were on lockdown after the eruptions of violence.