Convicted murderer with history of escaping from jail, recaptured

PEARL – A convicted murderer who escaped from prison late Sunday night, and has a history of breaking out of jail, has been recaptured and taken into custody. Officials from the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) said 36-year old Mark Kee Brown escaped from the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility, in Pearl, about 10 p.m. on June 12.

An immediate search for Brown began and acting on information provided by a confidential informant law enforcement officials from MDOC, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, Jones County Sheriff’s Department, Laurel Police Department, and the United States Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Task Force, captured Brown at the Long Oaks apartment complex in Laurel, Mississippi without incident.

Officials also arrested Jemesa Empting who will be charged with aiding and abetting an escape of a felon.

MDOC officials did not release the details of how Brown escaped from custody, but he reportedly sustained minor injuries during his escape for which he was treated following his recapture.

Brown, who is serving a life sentence from Harrison County for capital murder, now faces an additional charge for escape which carries a penalty of five years.

In 2005, court documents said Brown, Steven Fairley and Jason Foxworth went to the home of Tavaris Turner with the intention of robbing him of $10,000 in cash Turner was holding to purchase a car.

During the course of the robbery, Tavaris’ uncle, Larry Turner, was shot in the neck and killed.

A jury found Brown guilty and he was sentenced to two terms of life in prison.

Fairley was sentenced to 20 years in jail for armed robbery and Foxworth, like Brown, was given two life sentences for capital murder.

WLOX also reported that Brown, a habitual offender, has a history of escaping from prison. In 1996, a then 21-year-old Brown pleaded guilty to burglary, possession of a controlled substance, receiving stolen property and grand larceny. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison with five years suspended, WLOX said.

Brown was released in 2000, soon to be arrested again for possession of a controlled substance and other charges. Shortly thereafter, in April 2000, Brown escaped from the Harrison County jail along with four other inmates.

Police said Brown and the other inmates cut through a second floor window to make their escape.

Brown was at large for 18 days before being recaptured at a hotel on Highway 90 in Gulfport.

WLOX reported that Brown served five more years for the possession charge and the escape before he was released in 2005. That same year Larry Turner of D’Iberville was shot to death in what police called a botched robbery.

In January 2008, police believe Brown was the mastermind behind another jail escape when he and three other inmates, William Arevalo, Dustin Griffin and Cody Green, used a cell door to smash through a wall at the Harrison County Detention Center.

All four inmates were captured three days later.

Brown, Arevelo and Griffin were each found guilty of escape. Arevelo and Griffin are still serving time in MDOC custody. The fourth escaped inmate, Green, committed suicide in jail shortly after he was recaptured.