'Massive' search for convicted murderer who escaped on way to North Carolina hospital

North Carolina authorities continued an exhaustive manhunt on Wednesday for a prisoner convicted of shooting and killing a 1-year-old girl in 2015 after he escaped custody while being transported to a medical appointment the morning before.

Federal, state, and local authorities are searching for Ramone Jamarr Alston, 30, who escaped custody from the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction at around 7 a.m. Tuesday. Alston was about to receive medical care at UNC Hospital in Hillsborough when he broke free from leg restraints and ran into the adjacent woods, the department said in a statement.

He was last seen wearing a gray T-shirt, brown pants, and white New Balance tennis shoes, according to officials. Alston was also wearing handcuffs connected to a waist chain at the time of the incident.

The reward offered by officials for information leading to Alston's capture was upped to $35,000 after the U.S. Marshals Service contributed an additional $10,000, Keith Acree, communications director of the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction, announced during a news briefing on Wednesday.

"He's extremely cagey, extremely dangerous. And he has nothing to lose," Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood said during the hearing.

Blackwood added that the reward amount was "a lot of money."

"Somebody knows out there that this was planned, and they know who's involved in it, and we hope that motivates them to do the right thing and let us know so that we can bring this to a successful conclusion and a just conclusion," he said.

Authorities contacted some of Alston's family members, and their "cooperation has been varied," according to Blackwood. Officials were also interviewing two transport officers tasked with guarding Alston.

Blackwood said he went to high school with Alston's father, and had known Alston since he was born. "He was a troubled child, and he's been involved in criminal activity since he was a juvenile," he said.

Authorities have advised residents to report any suspicious activities and to keep doors, vehicles, and windows locked. "If anyone sees Alston, please do not approach," the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction warned.

'Massive' search underway for Ramone Alston

Officials said the search for Alston would continue north of Hillsborough on Wednesday. "Since he left the hospital, everything indicates a northern push," Blackwood said.

The search would pick up in the direction where trained canines led law enforcement before the scent ran cold on Tuesday, Orange County Emergency Services Director Kirby Saunders said at the news briefing.

"Any signs that Mr. Alston may have been there, any footprints, any discarded remains, handcuffs and fire, anything that we can find that would confirm a direction of travel and how he may have evaded capture – that is our focus today," Saunders said.

Blackwood said deputies received a couple calls reporting sightings of Alston in Durham, around 15 miles southeast of Hillsborough, including at a Big Lots store, but neither could be confirmed. "I cannot put any degree of certainty with any of those," he added.

Earlier Tuesday, authorities said a "massive ground search" for Alston continued in a one to two-mile radius around the hospital facility.

During a news conference on Tuesday, Saunders said multiple law enforcement agencies were involved in the search, including 114 personnel. Authorities are covering up to 580 acres, equal to nearly one mile, around the UNC Hospitals Hillsborough Campus, Saunders added.

"While the number one objective is to locate where Alston is, it is also imperative that we determine where he is not," Saunders said in a statement. "Efforts will continue until Alston is in custody."

Following Alston's escape, the UNC Hospitals Hillsborough Campus went into lockdown until around 8:30 a.m. and increased its security during the incident, WTVD reported . The Durham Technical Community College campus in Orange County also went on lockdown and canceled classes on Tuesday, according to a campus-wide alert.

Authorities noted that personnel were focused on thoroughly searching areas near the hospital, neighborhoods, and the woods.

"We have very little information or no credible evidence to say where this individual is, and our hope tonight is to assure where he is not," Saunders said at the Tuesday news conference. "That is our primary focus right now. To one: reassure the community that the community is safe, there's not an imminent threat or hazard to them."

Who is Ramone Alston?

Alston is serving a life sentence at the Bertie Correctional Institution in Windsor, about 150 miles east of Hillsborough. He was convicted of fatally shooting 1-year-old Maleah Williams in Chapel Hill on Christmas Day in 2015, according to authorities.

Local news outlets reported that Alston was found guilty of first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison in 2018.

The girl's mother, Tylena Williams, told WTVD in 2019 that Maleah was shot in the head while playing with a group of children outside her godparents' apartment. Alston and his friend, Pierre Je Bron Moore, had opened fire at the apartment complex in a drive-by shooting, according to Spectrum News .

Both Alston and Moore took a plea deal, with Moore receiving a sentence of 28 to 34 years in prison in 2019, according to WTVD.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Massive' search for convicted murderer who escaped on way to North Carolina hospital