Jail escape, slaying result in indictment
Published 7:00 pm Tuesday, March 8, 2011
A man involved in the breakout of the Lincoln County Jail and aBrookhaven shooting has been indicted for escape and murder,according to court records.
Ahmad R. Butler, 22, of 920 Chippewa St., has been indicted forescape and murder for his alleged fleeing of the Lincoln CountyJail in late September and his alleged involvement in the June 17killing of 21-year-old Anthony Nichols of McComb.
District Attorney Dee Bates said he was uncertain of the courtdate.
“It will probably be a little over a month,” said Bates.
Lincoln County Sheriff Steve Rushing said Butler has been in thecustody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections and has beentransferred back to the Lincoln County Jail for hisarraignment.
“He has just been (brought back) on a formality to get thesecharges addressed too,” said Rushing.
The shooting occurred near the Happy Food Mart on South FirstStreet. Nichols was shot in the forehead in the parking lot of theconvenience store and was later transferred to the University ofMississippi Medical Center, where he died.
Butler and five other inmates allegedly escaped from the jailthrough a third floor window on Sept. 27 around midnight. The groupallegedly descended from the jail using bed sheets tied together asrope.
Rushing’s deputies, assisted by the U.S. Marshal Service, capturedthe six inmates about 30 hours after their jailbreak inLouisiana.