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Hinds County officer fired for sex with inmate; charges pending

A Hinds County detention officer has been fired and is facing charges for allegedly having a sexual relationship with an inmate, WLOX reported.

Melony Marshall Conwright was employed with the Hinds County Sheriff’s Office as a detention officer and case worker and she worked at the Hinds County Joint State – County Work Center where incarcerated inmates are held.

On July 10, the woman’s ex-husband, Samuel Conwright, filed a complaint with the sheriff’s department alleging inappropriate activity between Conwright and Keenan Romel O’Neal, who is jailed at the work center. […]

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Noxubee County inmate captured

A 44-year-old work inmate who failed to return from a weekend pass has been captured, MDOC officials said.

Noxubee County Community Work Center inmate John Jason Lee was arrested around midnight, July 16, in Mathiston by officers with the Mississippi Department of Corrections. They were assisted by Choctaw County Sheriffs’ deputies, Mathiston Police Department officers, Webster County Sheriff’s deputies and the United States Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force.

Lee was serving a 12-year sentence for an auto burglary conviction and a vehicle theft from Clay and Webster Counties. […]

News

MDOC responds to federal lawsuit

The Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) is working with Management & Training Corp. (MTC) and Health Assurance to respond to a federal lawsuit filed recently over alleged conditions at East Mississippi Correctional Facility (EMCF) near Meridian in Lauderdale County.  

It is the agency’s policy to let the facts play out in court, prison officials said.

However, the allegations made against MDOC officials are unfairly damaging to its commitment to provide efficient and effective offender custody, care, control and treatment consistent with sound correctional principles and constitutional practices, MDOC spokesman Grace Fisher said. […]

News

Inmate stabbed to death at Parchman

An inmate serving 14 years for several convictions including simple assault on a police officer was stabbed to death allegedly by a fellow inmate Tuesday afternoon at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman.

Inmate Kelvin Bowen, 35, was pronounced dead at the prison’s hospital at 1:04 p.m.

Officials with the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) said Bowen was on his way to see a case manager when he was attacked with a sharp instrument in the hallway of Building 29, a maximum security unit, at the facility. […]

News

Two arrested at South Miss. prison after pipe bomb found

Two people are facing charges in connection with a pipe bomb found during a routine search of a vehicle at the state prison in Greene County during visitation over the weekend.  

“We don’t believe the pipe bomb was intended for the prison, nor do we believe the inmate whom they were planning to visit had knowledge of it,” said Sean K. Smith, director of the Corrections Investigation Division of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. “We are fortunate that we found the device during a routine search of the visitors’ vehicle. They never got past the secure entrance gate off the highway.”  

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agents were notified, arrived and took possession of the device, which was later disposed of without incident.   […]

News

Inmate escapes from Jefferson County facility

Officials at the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) said an inmate remains at large after leaving the facility around 6 a.m. Sunday. Melvin Toney, 32, was last seen wearing MDOC state-issued green and white striped pants and a white MDOC shirt with “MDOC Convict” printed on the back.

Toney is a black male with brown eyes. He is 5’11, weighs 280 pounds and has a tattoo on his upper right arm that says “Alexis”. […]

News

Ridgeland teen arrested for bringing drugs into prison

A Ridgeland teenager was arrested earlier this month at the Rankin County prison for allegedly having marijuana while attempting to visit his sister.

Robert Meeks, 17, was arrested Saturday, May 7 at Central Mississippi Correctional Facility (CMCF) and charged with possession of marijuana.  Officers initially detained him for having tobacco after the contraband fell out of his walking shorts as he was about to enter the visitation center. 

A further examination revealed 54 grams of marijuana hidden in the contraband, investigators said.  […]

Local Sports

Ex-Jacksonville WR Jimmy Smith serving prison term

Former Jacksonville Jaguars receiver Jimmy Smith has begun serving a six-year prison term in Mississippi for drug possession and weapons charges, online state corrections records show.

The Mississippi Department of Corrections’ website says the 44-year-old Smith entered the prison system in late March and was recently moved to a facility in Yazoo City. He was sentenced by a Madison County court to two years for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and four years for possession of cocaine, records show.

WJXX-TV in Jacksonville, Fla., first reported Smith’s sentence. His tentative release date is listed as Nov. 8, 2018. […]

News

Manning granted stay of execution due to ‘flawed’ hair analysis

A death row inmate convicted of killing two college students in December 1992 has been issued a stay of execution after his attorneys raised doubts as to what they call ‘new evidence.’

Willie Jerome “Fly” Manning had been scheduled to die by lethal injection on Tuesday, May 7 at 6 p.m. But just before 2 p.m., Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner (MDOC) Christopher Epps told a room of people waiting to witness the execution that Manning had been granted a stay by the Mississippi Supreme Court.

Manning was convicted for the brutal murders of Mississippi State University Students Tiffany Miller and Jon Steckler in Oktibbeha County. […]

News

MDOC to close 4 community work centers

The Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) is planning to close four of its 17 community work centers effective July 15.
 
Speaking to MDOC staff, MDOC Commissioner Epps said, “Tough times make you make tough decisions.”  A budget shortfall and fewer non-violent inmates eligible to be housed at community work centers are the reasons for the decision, Epps said.
 
Inmates at the work centers will be transferred to other MDOC facilities.  Community work centers staff will be offered positions at other MDOC facilities. 
[…]