Police Believe Escaped Inmate Died in Burning Home

Dylan Arrington was suspect in Monday night murder, carjacking
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 26, 2023 3:19 PM CDT
Escaped Inmate Presumed Dead After Standoff, Fire
Dylan Arrington, one of four Mississippi prisoners who escaped from the Raymon Detention Center over the weekend.   (Jackson Police Department via AP)

An escaped inmate in Mississippi suspected of killing a man and stealing his pickup truck is presumed dead after a standoff and fire at a home in Leake County. Police say fire engulfed the home around two hours after 22-year-old Dylan Arrington barricaded himself inside Wednesday morning, WLBT reports. Hinds County Sheriff Tyree Jones told the station that there was an exchange of gunfire around the time the fire started. "And it started smoking from that particular part of the house, and it just came up, I guess, spreading throughout the residence," the sheriff said. A deputy was injured in the exchange of fire.

The sheriff said a deceased person who has yet to be identified was located within the charred home. Arrington is believed to have killed 61-year-old Anthony Watts Monday night after he crashed a stolen motorbike and Watts, a church pastor, stopped to help. Leake County Sheriff Randy Atkinson says officers combed the area but found no sign of the pastor's Dodge Ram. Arrington is one of four inmates who escaped Saturday night from the Raymond Detention Center near Jackson, the AP reports. Casey Grayson, Corey Harrison, and Jerry Raynes are still at large. (More Mississippi stories.)

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