TEXARKANA, Ark. (AP) – The mother of a suspect in a murder case passed her son a hacksaw blade during a court appearance, helping him and another man escape from jail, the Miller County sheriff said Friday.
The inmates, Cortez Hooper, 23, and Quincy Stewart, 35, escaped Monday and were caught Thursday evening near Stewart’s mother’s house on the Arkansas side of Texarkana.
Stewart’s mother, Charlene Stewart, 55, was arrested Tuesday and charged with furnishing prohibited articles inside the detention facility and furnishing implements for an escape.
A Miller County judge set her bond at $500,000 during a hearing Thursday. She was arrested at an address on the Texas side of the city.
Sheriff Ron Stovall said at a Friday news conference that Charlene Stewart passed her son the hacksaw blade and a cellphone when he was being transferred to or from the courthouse. Stovall said Quincy Stewart was able to conceal the blade in a folder that held court documents.
Stovall said deputies can’t look in those folders, but he pledged to change procedures so a similar event can’t happen again.
The sheriff didn’t get into specifics about how procedures would be changed and wouldn’t address whether any Miller County employees were involved in the escape.
Stovall told Shreveport, La., television station KSLA (http://is.gd/i4aQ8w) that the investigation is continuing.
Hooper and Stewart escaped after allegedly sawing through metal bars in a cell window that was a foot wide and 3½ feet tall. They used a mattress cover to lower themselves about 5 feet and jumped the remaining 10 feet to the ground. Officials said they went under a 10-foot fence topped with razor wire.
Hooper was charged last year with first-degree murder in the slaying of Terry Koontz, 21, who was killed at a Texarkana apartment complex.
Stewart was in the Miller County Jail on a drug charge and awaiting transfer to the Texas side to face a capital murder charge. He is accused in the 2011 death of William Worthy, 42, who was killed during an attempted robbery.
Stovall was elected after a series of escapes and other problems under former sheriff Linda Rambo.
At one point in 2009, inmates were found to have a cache in a ceiling that included alcohol, cellphones, power tools, rope and weapons.
Stovall said there are problems with the jail’s construction that have left it vulnerable to escapes.
The county spent $60,000 on improvements in 1998 after 11 escapes. Four of the inmates used fire escapes to get out.
A year later, the county approved spending another $800,000 on improvements and more personnel.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
The inmates, Cortez Hooper, 23, and Quincy Stewart, 35, escaped Monday and were caught Thursday evening near Stewart’s mother’s house on the Arkansas side of Texarkana.
Stewart’s mother, Charlene Stewart, 55, was arrested Tuesday and charged with furnishing prohibited articles inside the detention facility and furnishing implements for an escape.
A Miller County judge set her bond at $500,000 during a hearing Thursday. She was arrested at an address on the Texas side of the city.
Sheriff Ron Stovall said at a Friday news conference that Charlene Stewart passed her son the hacksaw blade and a cellphone when he was being transferred to or from the courthouse. Stovall said Quincy Stewart was able to conceal the blade in a folder that held court documents.
Stovall said deputies can’t look in those folders, but he pledged to change procedures so a similar event can’t happen again.
The sheriff didn’t get into specifics about how procedures would be changed and wouldn’t address whether any Miller County employees were involved in the escape.
Stovall told Shreveport, La., television station KSLA (http://is.gd/i4aQ8w) that the investigation is continuing.
Hooper and Stewart escaped after allegedly sawing through metal bars in a cell window that was a foot wide and 3½ feet tall. They used a mattress cover to lower themselves about 5 feet and jumped the remaining 10 feet to the ground. Officials said they went under a 10-foot fence topped with razor wire.
Hooper was charged last year with first-degree murder in the slaying of Terry Koontz, 21, who was killed at a Texarkana apartment complex.
Stewart was in the Miller County Jail on a drug charge and awaiting transfer to the Texas side to face a capital murder charge. He is accused in the 2011 death of William Worthy, 42, who was killed during an attempted robbery.
Stovall was elected after a series of escapes and other problems under former sheriff Linda Rambo.
At one point in 2009, inmates were found to have a cache in a ceiling that included alcohol, cellphones, power tools, rope and weapons.
Stovall said there are problems with the jail’s construction that have left it vulnerable to escapes.
The county spent $60,000 on improvements in 1998 after 11 escapes. Four of the inmates used fire escapes to get out.
A year later, the county approved spending another $800,000 on improvements and more personnel.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
