Authorities in North Carolina are searching for an inmate convicted of killing a 1-year-old girl who escaped while being transferred to a medical facility in Hillsboro, North Carolina, on Tuesday.
Ramone Alston, 30, was convicted of killing 1-year-old Mariah Williams in a drive-by shooting that fatally wounded a bystander in Chapel Hill on Christmas Day 2015. The defense argued that Alston was present at the scene but did not kill the girl. Two other men were arrested, but only one has been charged.
Authorities say the girl was playing outside an apartment when the gunfire erupted.
According to the North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections, Alston was convicted of first-degree murder in 2018 and sentenced to life in prison. He was housed at Bertie Correctional Facility in Windsor, authorities said.
The department said in a statement that Alston arrived at the University of North Carolina Medical Center’s gastroenterology department in a prison transport van around 7 a.m. Tuesday and was examined.
“He released his leg restraints, jumped while still handcuffed, and ran into adjacent woods,” the statement said.
Keith Ackley, public information director for the Department of Adult Corrections, told Raleigh’s NBC affiliate WRAL that Alston was wearing a waist chain and handcuffs at the time of his escape.
According to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, which covers the area, the man was wearing a gray T-shirt, brown pants and white New Balance tennis shoes.
State prison officials noted he has friends and family in the Hillsboro area, part of the Research Triangle, home to the state’s major universities.
Authorities have set up a perimeter of at least a mile around the scene of the escape, according to the Department of Adult Corrections, and nearby residents have been urged to keep their doors and windows closed and to stay indoors if possible.
The department has offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to the suspect’s location and rearrest.
“We know there are people out there who know where he is and who will probably share information,” Ackley told WRAL.
