WEST POINT – The Clay County Sheriff’s Department is looking for an inmate who escaped Wednesday afternoon.
Marquis Boyd, 23, escaped from the Clay County Jail Wednesday by crawling under a fence while he was on yard duty, according to Sheriff Eddie Scott.
Boyd is being held on three counts of armed robbery and a previous escape charge. Boyd has not yet been sentenced on the charges.
As the inmates were being led inside from yard duty, Boyd crawled under a loose section of the fence and scaled a building on the outer perimeter of the jail before jumping over outer perimeter fence, Scott said.
The jail’s security cameras recorded Boyd escaping at 1:49 p.m.
Wednesday was Boyd’s third escape attempt since 2011. Of his three attempts, Boyd has escaped the Clay County Jail twice.
When asked why an inmate who has previously escaped was allowed to be on yard duty, Scott said it was considered Boyd’s right.
“You can’t deny them their basic rights,” Scott said. “They have to have so many hours of sunshine a day. Security is always a top issue though, so I’ve got to balance that.”
Scott said his deputies as well as other law enforcement agencies have been looking for Boyd since his escape. As of press time today, he had not been located.
Boyd is described as a black male, weighing 115 lbs and 5-foot-7-inches tall.
Anyone with information regarding his location is asked to call the Clay County Sheriff’s Department at 662-494-2896 or the Golden Triangle Crime Stoppers at 1-800-530-7151.
Sarah Fowler covered crime, education and community related events for The Dispatch.
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