JACKSON, Miss.–A convicted murderer may have been allowed to leave jail, drive a car home and sleep there. The Miss. Dept. of Corrections says Jerry Mack is now locked up securely at the Central Miss. Correctional Facility after being improperly supervised while staying at the Hinds County Jail.
After some back and forth punches between Hinds County and Corrections about whether or not state inmates should stay at the jails, both downtown Jackson and Raymond facilities, the decision was made to remove 41 state inmates Tuesday.
Jerry Mack, who was convicted of murder and got a life sentence, plus 20 years in 1996, may have proven the point.
Corrections Commissioner Marshall Fisher said they got a tip about Mack and when they caught him he was changing from street clothes back into his stripes.
Fisher said Mack told them he was allowed to keep a horse, fix cars for cash and run errands for employees.
When they caught him, he had a cell phone, $435 in his pocket, and there was a knife and box cutter not far away.
“This inmate should not have been outside of a secured perimeter. Instead we found him in a barn which is located outside a fence,” said Fisher.
Hinds County said they are cooperating with Corrections on the investigation and told local TV stations that Corrections should produce evidence that Mack’s claims are true.
