Escaped inmate captured in Washington County

Posted: Mar 7, 2023 / 06:09 PM EST

Updated: Mar 7, 2023 / 09:03 PM EST

UPDATE

WASHINGTON CO., Ga. (WJBF) — An inmate who escaped from Baldwin State Prison on Monday has been caught in Washington County.

According to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, William Knight was taken into custody without incident on Tuesday evening. No other details have been provided.

Count on WJBF NewsChannel 6 for updates on this developing story.

WASHINGTON CO., Ga (WJBF) – The search continues for a Baldwin State Prison inmate who escaped on Monday.

William Knight was on work detail in south Baldwin County when he escaped and, then, took off in a vehicle.

“We do consider him to be dangerous,” said Washington County Sheriff Joel Cochran. “We can’t say that he’s armed, but we can’t say that he’s not armed at this time.”

Police believe Knight crossed over into Washington County, where he abandoned the car and took off on foot Monday evening.

“We located the vehicle off in a swamp,” said Cochran.

According to the Georgia Department of Corrections, Knight had been incarcerated on Involuntary Manslaughter charges, after being convicted of giving a lethal dose of methamphetamines to Matthew Good, a Navy sailor, in 2015.

Knight was set to be released in June 2025.

“He’s got family ties over here in Washington County, so we do believe that he was trying to get back to his family,” said Cochran. “We’ve been in close contact with them since the beginning of this incident and we feel like that they are cooperating in our investigation.”

Knight was last known to be in a wooded area around Indian Trail Road and Highway 272 at about 10 pm on Monday.

Washington County Sheriff’s Office and other agencies continue the manhunt for Knight.

“Well, we’re hoping that we can get some citizen tip that they see someone fitting the description of this gentleman,” said Cochran. “And as soon as we get a good lead, then we’ll saturate that area with our personnel and we try to, hopefully, be able to apprehend him shortly after. So we…basically, what I’m saying is we’re depending on the public’s help. Based on the picture we received last night from a hunting camp it appears that he’s got some form of camouflage on.”

Knight is in his late 20’s, around 5’11” and weighs about 156 pounds. If you have any information on his whereabouts, please call 9-1-1.