Arrington, other escaped detainees, no stranger to courtroom, records show

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - A Hinds County Detention Center escapee accused of killing a preacher who stopped to help him on the side of the road has been in and out of courtrooms several times in the last three years.

On Monday, Dylan Arrington allegedly shot and killed Anthony Watts in the area of the I-55 South Frontage Road and Old Byram Road.

Watts pulled over to help Arrington, who allegedly wrecked a stolen motorcycle.

According to court documents, Arrington was convicted of auto theft in August 2020, and sentenced to two years in custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.

A year later, he stole another vehicle, court documents state.

A Hinds County grand jury indicted Arrington in February 2022 and Circuit Court Judge Adrienne Wooten granted him a $10,000 bond.

Arrington posted bond in January. He was charged with auto theft again in early April.

Less than two weeks later, he was slapped with another charge – being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. Investigators found three guns in his McDowell Road home.

Those recent charges left him behind bars until he and three others busted out of jail on Sunday.

Other escapees included Casey Grayson, 34, Corey Harrison, 32, and Jerry Raynes, 51.

One of those detainees, Raynes, escaped from the Hinds County Work Center nearly two years ago.

Court records show a bench warrant was issued for Raynes’ arrest in August 2021 after he “willfully, intentionally, knowingly and feloniously” left the work center on County Farm Road.

It was unclear what he was being held on at the time.

Four months later, in December 2021, he was indicted on business burglary and auto theft charges in connection with breaking into the Durham School Bus Barn on U.S. 18.

A month later, in January 2022, a bench warrant was issued for his arrest after he failed to show up in court.

The warrant was returned executed in August, and in October he received a seven-year suspended prison sentence and five years of post-release supervision.

That same day, he was sentenced to 5 years on the escape charge, with five years suspended and five years of post-release supervision. According to the sentencing order, all three sentences were to run concurrently.

It was unclear when Raynes had been rearrested. Sheriff Tyree Jones says after escaping the work center, he was being held in B-Pod, a more secure unit at the jail.

“He escaped from the work center before, so, of course, we weren’t going put him at the work center,” he said. “They were in a secure part of the facility. They breached a wall in one of the cells. That’s how they were able to get out.”

Harrison, meanwhile, was being held on charges of receiving stolen property.

He was indicted on the charge in March 2021. A warrant was issued for his arrest in August 2021, but it was not returned executed until April 10 of 2023.

As for Grayson, he was sentenced to three years on a methamphetamine charge in August 2022.

However, instead of jail time, he was given three years of “non-adjudicated probation subject to [successful] completion of Hinds County Drug Court.”

He also was required to pay a $1,000 participation fee and a $500 fee to the Hinds County District Attorney’s Office, both of which were due 60 days from sentencing.

Since then, numerous bench warrants have been issued for the Terry man’s arrest, including one in February for failing to comply with the drug court order. That was lifted by Circuit Judge Winston Kidd on March 9.

Prior to that, on February 16, 2023, a warrant was issued for Grayson’s arrest for possession with intent to distribute Fentanyl and for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.

He was denied bond on those charges on April 6.

Want more WLBT news in your inbox? Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Please click here to report it and include the headline of the story in your email.

Copyright 2023 WLBT. All rights reserved.