3 inmates captured in Florida after escape from jail near Atlanta

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ATLANTA (AP) — Three inmates who escaped from a jail east of Atlanta, including one who was being held on a murder charge, have been apprehended in Florida, a member of a federal fugitive task force confirmed.

Eric Heinze, assistant chief inspector with the U.S. Marshals Service Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force, declined to share further details ahead of a news conference planned in Atlanta later Tuesday.

The inmates’ escape from DeKalb County Jail was discovered early Monday during a routine security check, the county sheriff’s office said.

“We take this breach very seriously and are working diligently to ensure these individuals are safely returned to custody as quickly as possible,” DeKalb County Sheriff Melody Maddox said in a statement before the inmates were recaptured. Authorities have not shared details about how the escape was carried out.

The jail is in Decatur, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) east of downtown Atlanta.

The inmates range in age from 24 to 31, with the youngest one charged with murder and armed robbery. The other two inmates face charges that include armed robbery and arson.

The sheriff’s office had warned that the men might be armed and were considered dangerous after their escape.

The inmate accused of murder and armed robbery, Stevenson Charles, 24, has had several run-ins with law officers in Georgia and Florida. He had been sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to multiple counts of kidnapping and bank robbery, a federal agent wrote in a Monday affidavit regarding the recent jail escape.

After being sentenced, the agent wrote, Charles was turned over to DeKalb County authorities on Dec. 5 to face the murder charge, details of which were not immediately available. A federal criminal complaint charging him with the escape does not list an attorney who could be contacted to comment on his behalf, and it wasn’t clear whether he has one at this early stage of the case.

In one of multiple cases involving Charles in South Florida, he is accused of meeting a man through the Grindr online dating application and then pulling a gun on him when they met in person at a Miami residence in 2022. Charles then drove the man to various Miami area banks, withdrawing money from the victim’s accounts, court records show.