A Sebastian County man convicted in 2012 of murdering a teenage girl and stuffing her body into a barrel escaped Monday from a prison work detail in Lee County in east Arkansas.
Previous coverage of Jones' crimes
60 years, no parole for killer of girl, 16
Suspect led 2 to site of body, officers told
Lloyd Jones, 40, of Lavaca was assigned to a construction/demolition crew when he escaped about noon, said Arkansas Department of Correction spokesman Solomon Graves. The work detail was roughly 2 miles west of the prison unit, Graves said.
Jones was serving a 60-year sentence at the East Arkansas Regional Correctional Facility in Brickeys, almost 13 miles northeast of Marianna. He was neither handcuffed nor shackled at the work detail, but he was supervised by one or more armed guards, Graves said.
Jones pleaded guilty in August 2012 to first-degree murder of 16-year-old Angela Allen, abuse of a corpse and possession of material depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child. He was serving the sentence for the death of Allen, whom he lured from her Van Buren home in February 2012. He then strangled her, stuffed her into a barrel and buried her in a shallow grave. Jones had a previous rape conviction.
Jones was convicted as a habitual offender, meaning he was ordered to serve the entire sentence.
Colleen Allen, Angela Allen's grandmother who had adopted her, said she was in "complete disbelief" when she learned that Jones had escaped.
"I knew our judicial system is broken, but this goes to prove it," Colleen Allen said. "How could he walk away? Are these people not being monitored, watched? For somebody to be able to walk off from something like that, there's something wrong somewhere.
"I'm hurt. To see this happen, this is inexcusable."
Graves said in an email Monday that Jones' classification as an I-C inmate allowed him to be on a crew under armed guard.
An online Arkansas inmate handbook says in part, "Inmates are classified in three ways: custody classification, good time earning classification and medical classification.
"Custody classification is the result of scoring established criteria including crime, length of sentence, disciplinary record, prior violence, escape history and various other factors that determine risk to the public and risk within the institution. This classification may limit the facilities to which an inmate can be assigned," the handbook adds.
Asked to explain the I-C classification that Jones had, Solomon replied in an email, "Class I is the highest classification/class status an inmate can obtain and has subcategories of IA, IB, IC, ID, and IP. Class IC is for inmates assigned Class I status (other than IA, IB, ID, or IP), but require armed security supervision when working outside the fence."
Authorities believe Jones fled on foot and had been missing less than an hour when they first noticed his absence, Graves said.
Graves said that, to his knowledge, Jones had not stolen anyone's gun or other weapon and that no one was hurt in the escape.
Staff from the Correction Department and the Arkansas State Police were involved in the search. State police spokesman Bill Sadler referred questions to the Correction Department. Other agencies assisting include local law enforcement officers and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.
There had been no reported sightings of Jones since the escape, Graves said late Monday afternoon.
Asked if authorities had any leads on Jones' whereabouts, Graves said, "We're searching in an area adjacent [to] the unit and the escape area."
The Correction Department's website indicates that Jones, who is white, is 6 feet tall, weighs 175 pounds and has several tattoos, including depictions of dragons, a woman, a wizard, a castle, flames, a skull, a cross and a snake. He also has a scar on his abdomen. His last known address was in Lavaca.
"We're asking for anyone who may have information on his possible whereabouts to contact their local law enforcement ... with that information," Graves said.
Asked if any guards were under review or suspension as a result of the escape, Graves said: "Our focus is on capturing ... Jones. Determinations on adherence to policy, or lack thereof, will be made at a later date."
In an initial interview with police in February 2012, Jones acknowledged that he met Angela Allen and drove her to the Arkansas River bottoms near Lavaca. He said he pushed her into the river and left her when he learned her age.
Police searched a hillside near the Jones family home east of Lavaca the next day and found the girl's body stuffed in a blue plastic barrel that had been buried.
Colleen Allen admitted she was fearful when she initially heard about Jones' escape.
"I've got so much faith in the Lord, I think we're going to be OK," said Allen, who no longer lives in the Van Buren home from which Angela Allen disappeared in 2012. "But I think it's going to take a little time to find him."
State Desk on 06/14/2016