A $50,000 reward is being offered for information on the location of a North Carolina inmate convicted of killing a 1-year-old girl who escaped this week.
Ramone Alston, 30, fled when he arrived at the hospital for an appointment Tuesday morning.
Since his escape, the reward has been increased and now stands at $50,000: $30,000 was approved by Governor Roy Cooper, $10,000 by the U.S. Marshals Service and $10,000 by the FBI.
“Someone, somewhere knows where Alston is,” North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections Commissioner Todd Issee said in a statement Thursday. “We are hopeful that this reward will provide critical information that leads to Alston’s arrest.”
Alston fled the scene shortly after the transport vehicle arrived at the University of North Carolina Hospital-Hillsboro campus around 7 a.m. Tuesday. The North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections said the suspect freed himself from his ankle restraints, jumped from the vehicle and ran into adjacent woods while still handcuffed.
At a press conference Wednesday, Keith Ackley, public information director for the Department of Adult Corrections, said authorities are “fairly confident” Alston is no longer in the immediate vicinity of the scene of his escape.
More than 300 law enforcement officers from 19 agencies searched 1,335 acres around the medical facility, authorities said Wednesday.
Alston was convicted of first-degree murder in 2018 for the shooting death of 1-year-old Mariah Williams in Chapel Hill on Christmas Day 2015.
She was shot as a bystander when someone opened fire from a car while she was playing outside her apartment. Alston’s defense argued that he was at the scene but did not kill the girl. Two other men were arrested, but only one has faced charges.
Alston was sentenced to life in prison and is serving his sentence at Bertie Correctional Institution in Windsor.
The man is described as 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs about 230 pounds. At the time of his escape, he had long, dark dreadlocks, but authorities warned that “he may have attempted to change his appearance since his escape.”
Anyone who sees Alston is warned to “not approach” him and to call 911. Anyone with information about Alston’s whereabouts is asked to call the North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections tip line at 919-324-1082.
