A man who escaped from a Mississippi prison with only a few months left before his release is headed back to prison for a long time.
When 21-year-old Shunekndrick Huffman escaped from the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility on August 25, he broke into a neighbor’s house, held three individuals at gunpoint for several hours, then eventually drove off in a car belonging to one of the residents, Sky News reported Tuesday.
He later crashed the vehicle and took off on foot.
Mississippi escapee, Shunekndrick Huffman, is headed back to prison after breaking out of MDOC and kidnapping two people months before his release date. | Backstory: https://t.co/zX3HqXaqkA pic.twitter.com/YWef9ga5KF
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In a social media post August 25, the state’s department of corrections said officials found and captured Huffman, who was hiding in a dumpster at the Mississippi State Hospital approximately two miles away from the prison facility.
The agency noted that “Huffman was sentenced on Oct. 14, 2019, to seven years followed by three years’ probation for aggravated assault in Leake County,” noting he was scheduled for release in December.
The post also noted that a siren used to alert neighbors of an inmate escape malfunctioned when the incident occurred.
“We are very sorry because the local community is a valuable resource for us,” MDOC Commissioner Burl Cain explained to citizens at the time, adding officials were working to correct the problem and investigate how the escape happened.
An image shows police officers taking Huffman into custody after finding him in the dumpster, per WJTV:
At the time, he faced charges that included home invasion, kidnapping, and carjacking, the outlet said.
Rankin County district attorney Bubba Bramlett said Monday a judge sentenced the man to 40 years in prison when he admitted to the kidnapping charges.
His office said in a press release Monday:
Huffman was sentenced to 30 years, with 20 years being served and the last ten suspended for one count of kidnapping. He was also sentenced to an additional 30 years, with 20 years being served and the last ten suspended for another count of kidnapping. Upon release, Huffman will be placed on five years of supervised probation. Both sentences are to run consecutive to one another.
The excellent and efficient work and cooperation of MDOC officials, state officials, the Pearl Police Department, Rankin County Sheriff’s Department, and other agencies involved in this tense manhunt led to the successful apprehension of this escaped convict.
Meanwhile, Cain said officials are working to improve security to prevent another similar situation from happening, per the Sky News report.
