Massive search leads to capture of two escapees, both charged with murder

CLAIBORNE COUNTY, Miss. — After a massive search that involved officers from at least nine agencies, Claiborne County Sheriff Edward Good and his deputies have apprehended two accused murderers who escaped from the Claiborne County Detention Center at approximately 2:20 a.m. Friday.

Dezarrious Johnson, 18, of Natchez, was being held at the facility for Jefferson County on a murder charge. Claiborne County officials said Johnson badly injured his right ankle during the escape. Johnson’s limp was evident on a Facebook live broadcast made by the Claiborne County Sheriff’s Office of the suspects being taken into custody.

Tyrekennel Collins, 24, was held at the facility for Copiah County. He is accused of murdering his cousin, 46-year-old James Collins, on Oct. 17, 2023.

The two were captured at approximately 11 a.m. on Saturday without incident at an abandoned house in the 1700 block of Bridewell Road in Port Gibson, said Adams County Sheriff Travis Patten. He and his deputies were involved in the search for the escapees from its beginning, as were officers from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Mississippi Wildlife and Fisheries, Rankin County Sheriff’s Office, Warren County Sheriff’s Office, Port Gibson Police Department, the U.S. Marshals Service, Mississippi Highway Patrol and the Chase Team from the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, Louisiana.

“We all rely on each other, and when something like this happens, we help out our brothers and sisters in law enforcement,” Patten said. “It was a massive operation. Basically, we had Claiborne County on lockdown, which allowed us to stop and search cars and knock on doors. We did grid searches and worked to flush them into one of two areas where we got calls telling us they were hiding out. When the storm came through, they had to seek cover.”

Claiborne County’s Sheriff Edward Good was not immediately available for comment.

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