3rd escaped Mississippi detainee found dead in New Orleans: Sheriff

(NEW ORLEANS) — A third detainee who escaped from a Mississippi jail more than a week ago was found dead inside a vehicle at a New Orleans truck stop on Sunday, authorities said.

Casey Grayson, 34, was one of four men who broke out of the Raymond Detention Center in Hinds County last month, local authorities said.

His cause of death is pending an autopsy, Hinds County Sheriff Tyree Jones said Tuesday.

“There was drug paraphernalia and suspected narcotics recovered in close proximity to where he was discovered in the vehicle,” Jones told reporters during a press briefing Tuesday, noting that there was no foul play suspected.

Authorities believe a family member may have provided the white pickup truck that Grayson was discovered in following his escape, but “that is still under investigation,” Jones said. A security guard found him unresponsive in the truck and alerted authorities, Jones said.

Since the breach, one of the detainees was killed in a shootout with law enforcement and another was taken into custody in Texas, while a fourth remains at large.

The four detainees escaped through the roof of the Hinds County jail on April 21, according to the Hinds County Sheriff’s Office. The men were discovered missing from the jail early the following day after a headcount, according to Jones. The men were pretrial detainees, meaning they were being held in prison while awaiting trial.

Grayson had been detained since mid-February and was charged with the sale of a controlled substance and grand larceny, according to Jones. The sheriff’s office received information last week that Grayson may have been in the New Orleans area, he said.

The discovery comes after one of the escaped detainees, 51-year-old Jerry Raynes, was captured in Spring Valley, Texas, in the Houston area, last week. He is in the process of being extradited to Mississippi, Jones said Tuesday.

Raynes had been in the Raymond Detention Center since January 2022 after being charged with auto theft and business burglary and has a history of escaping pretrial detention facilities, according to Jones. He faces additional charges of escape and auto theft, the sheriff said.

Another one of the escaped detainees — 22-year-old Dylan Arrington — was killed in a shootout with deputies at a residence in Leake County on April 26, according to Jones. Arrington had barricaded himself inside the home, which somehow became engulfed in flames during the standoff, Jones said.

While on the loose, Arrington was believed to be involved in a fatal carjacking in Jackson on April 24. The victim — identified as the Rev. Anthony Watts — was believed to have pulled over to help after someone crashed a motorcycle before he was fatally shot, authorities said.

Arrington had been in the detention center since April 13 after being charged with auto theft and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, according to the Hinds County Sheriff’s Office.

The fourth detainee was identified by the sheriff’s office as Corey Harrison, 22, who was charged with receiving stolen property and had been detained since April 7.

Jones said Tuesday that Harrison is believed to be affiliated with the Hinds County area but “I do not have an exact location on where he may be at this particular time.”

ABC News’ Will McDuffie contributed to this report.

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