A man charged in connection with a murder is on the run after escaping from Lowndes County Adult Detention Center.
Two others have been charged in connection with the escape.
Terry Leshaun Brooks, 42, was one of two inmates to break out of the jail just before 8 p.m. Tuesday, according to a Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office Facebook post. The other, 36-year-old Phillip Shane House, was captured moments later.
Brooks reportedly cut his way out of a window, then went through a ventilation system, over one perimeter fence and under a second fence to escape. He is considered dangerous.
House, who is in custody for the June murder of his girlfriend, Summer Danielle Tennyson, in Caledonia, is now also charged with escape. Steven Douglas Jennings, 53, is charged with conspiracy to commit a crime, according to a LCSO press release issued Wednesday evening.
Jennings allegedly spoke with Brooks by phone and helped facilitate both Brooks’ and House’s escape. He is being held on $250,000 bond.
Brooks is charged with accessory after the fact in the December 2020 murder of Frank Edwards, for allegedly trying to help Edwards’ killer, Kenny Armistead, elude capture. He also faces cocaine possession, parole violation and weapons charges.
Authorities arrested Brooks in August 2021. He was out on $900,000 bond when he fled to St. Louis, Missouri, to avoid capture for additional charges. U.S. marshals tracked down and captured Brooks at an apartment complex where he jumped out of a second-story window trying to get away.
The Dispatch reached out by phone and text to Sheriff Eddie Hawkins just before 9 p.m. Tuesday regarding the escape and sent a text to Chief Deputy Brent Swan just after 9. Neither responded, and LCSO did not post about the incident on Facebook until 12:40 a.m., roughly five hours after Brooks broke out of jail.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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