Four inmates face new felony charges for their alleged role in an Aug. 30 fire at Lowndes County Adult Detention Center.
Dylan Langford, 25, is charged with arson, destruction of county property and three counts of aggravated assault by arson on a law enforcement officer. Sheriff Eddie Hawkins said Langford allegedly started the fire that sent three deputies and two other inmates to the hospital for second-degree burns and smoke inhalation.
Three other inmates — Terry Brooks, 43, Joshua Newell, 39, and Jamar Stallings, 38 — are all charged with arson, according to a sheriff’s office press release.
The fire started around 9:30 p.m. just outside an inmate cell close to a communal area. The damage displaced nine inmates in that zone to other holding cells.
Mississippi Bureau of Investigations agents determined a surveillance camera was disabled, and the wires were shorted. That caused a spark Langford used to ignite the fire.
Hawkins told The Dispatch an insurance adjuster had visited the jail to view the damage, but the county doesn’t have an estimate yet for repair costs. There’s also no timeline yet for those repairs, he said.
“What will happen is we will file a claim with our insurance company, and the insurance company will go after the defendants for the amount of the damages,” Hawkins said.
The night of the fire, Langford was in jail for a probation violation, while Newell was in for burglary and malicious mischief charges and Stallings was being held for felony charges in Noxubee County.
Brooks was already facing charges as an accessory to the 2020 murder of Frank Edwards. He escaped Nov. 3 from LCADC and was captured two days later. He also carries cocaine possession and burglary charges from previous incidents.
Langford’s bond for the new charges is $425,000, while Newell’s is $100,000. Bonds for Brooks and Stallings were set at $75,000.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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