Mississippi sheriff sets new security after escaped inmate was captured in Chicago

HERNANDO, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi sheriff’s department says it has set new security procedures since an inmate escaped and fled to Chicago, where he was arrested last week after a 15-hour standoff with police at a restaurant just blocks from the Democratic National Convention.

Joshua Zimmerman was wearing street clothes and was not handcuffed when he fled from the DeSoto County Courthouse in Hernando, Mississippi, on June 14.

“The weaknesses that were exposed from Zimmerman’s escape have been rectified, and we have implemented additional security measures that we will not disclose to the public for obvious safety reasons,” the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement Wednesday.

A former deputy jailer in DeSoto County, Ronnie Hunt, has been charged with conveying articles useful for the escape of a prisoner, Mississippi Department of Public Safety spokesperson Bailey Martin said Tuesday. Martin said “additional charges are probable.” She did not respond to a question about whether Hunt is represented by an attorney, and the jail where Hunt was initially taken said he was no longer listed as an inmate there Thursday.

Hunt, 32, was fired from his job with the sheriff’s department.

When Zimmerman escaped in Mississippi, he was set to make a court appearance on charges of attempted murder and armed robbery. He was also awaiting extradition to Houston, where he’s charged with murder, the U.S. Marshals Service said.

Investigators said last week that they believe Zimmerman was working at the seafood restaurant where he was captured. It is about a half-mile from the United Center, where the political convention was being held. The Marshals Service said there was “no connection or threat to the event or those attending.”

According to court records in Harris County, Texas, Zimmerman is accused of fatally shooting a woman, Keyanna Mercer, at a Houston motel on Sept. 2, 2023. The two were asked to leave the motel after multiple complaints of fighting, and when staff members checked the room to see if they had left, they found Mercer’s body with a gunshot wound to the head, police said.

Court records also show Zimmerman was arrested in Connecticut in 2022 on a felony sexual assault charge. He pleaded not guilty and was freed on a $200,000 bond, but a warrant was later issued for his rearrest.