Mississippi prison escapee Drew Johnson is captured on Christmas Day after escaping Tuesday afternoon from the South Mississippi Correctional Institution in Leakesville. Photo by the Mississippi Department of Corrections
Convicted murderer Drew Johnson is back in prison on Christmas Day after briefly escaping a Mississippi state prison on Christmas Eve.
Johnson, 33, was captured near the South Mississippi Correctional Institution in Leakesville after escaping from the prison on Tuesday afternoon, the Mississippi Department of Corrections announced on Facebook Wednesday afternoon. Advertisement
Mississippi authorities described Johnson as “very, very dangerous” and “desperate” after discovering he was missing from the prison, CNN reported.
“People tend to be more generous during Christmas and let their guard down,” the George County Sheriff’s Department said in a Facebook post prior to Johnson’s capture. “Be vigilant and be careful.”
Johnson is serving life in prison after pleading guilty to several unrelated and violent crimes and being sentenced on Feb. 14, 2022.
He also pleaded guilty to the 2016 stabbing death of an acquaintance, during which he stabbed the victim more than two dozen times and left the body in a field near Memphis, according to the Shelby County (Tenn.) District Attorney’s Office.
While in prison in Tennessee, Johnson attacked another inmate by striking him several times in the head with a brick in 2021. He also pleaded guilty to setting several fires while in prison in 2019. Advertisement
Johnson was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for murder and 15 years for each of his other crimes in Tennessee.
Johnson also is charged with murder in Rankin County, Miss. That case is pending.
The South Mississippi Correction Institution is the state’s newest prison and is located in Greene County, which is located near the state line with Alabama in southeastern Mississippi.
The Greene County Emergency Management office issued an alert after Johnson escaped the facility at about 3:30 p.m. CST on Tuesday.
