Authorities recapture 1 of 4 escapees from Georgia jail

MACON, Ga. - One of four men who escaped from a central Georgia jail last week was caught Thursday, authorities said.

The U.S. Marshals Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force said 29-year-old Chavis Demaryo Stokes was arrested at a home in Montezuma, about 50 miles from the jail, around 2 p.m.

Bibb County Sheriff David Davis said last week that Stokes, 52-year-old Joey Fournier, 24-year-old Marc Kerry Anderson and 37-year-old Johnifer Dernard Barnwell had escaped through a damaged window and a cut a fence at the jail early Oct. 16. There was no indication Thursday that any of the others had been caught.

Video footage showed a blue Dodge Challenger that had been just outside the jail hours before the escape and appeared to show someone tampering with the fence. That person then brought some items into the enclosed area, and the sheriff said investigators believe the items were used to help the men escape.

The car was found abandoned Friday in the parking lot of a Macon supermarket.

Earlier this week, a man fatally shot himself when police officers appeared at his door to question him about the escapees, authorities said.

Deputies said Christian Demond Williams, 23, died Tuesday morning at a Macon hospital. The U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force found Williams at a Macon apartment after investigators got a tip that he might have information about four men who escaped Oct. 16 from the Bibb County jail.

Bibb County deputies said another man has been arrested in a car theft believed to be connected to the jailbreak.

The escapees are:

• Joey Fournier, 52, who was being held for murder. He is described as a white man with gray hair and blue eyes. He is 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs 140 pounds.
• Marc Kerry Anderson, 24, who was being held for aggravated assault. He is described as a Black man with dreadlocks. He is 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs 165 pounds.
• Johnifer Dernard Barnwell, 37, who was being detained by the U.S. Marshals. He is described as a Black man with braids. He is 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs 190 pounds.
• Chavis Demaryo Stokes, 29, who was being detained for drug trafficking and possession of a firearm. He is described as a Black man with black hair. He is 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighs 160 pounds.

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