Inmate on release for Mississippi funeral is found in Ohio

AKRON, Ohio (AP) — A man who was granted temporary release from a life prison sentence in Mississippi to attend a funeral in that state, but who overpowered his guards and escaped, was found hundreds of miles to the north Tuesday at a home in Ohio, authorities said.

Garnett Hughes, 33, was arrested at a home in Akron, the U.S. Marshals Service said in a news release, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. A woman living at the home has been charged with obstructing official business, authorities said.

Hughes had been serving a life sentence on two counts of kidnapping and one count of sexual battery. Authorities say he had already escaped twice from a local jail.

He had been granted temporary release Friday to attend the funeral but was able to escape, police said.

Police in Ohio said they spotted Hughes entering the Akron home on Tuesday. Police said they questioned the woman who lived there, and Hughes was arrested when he tried to flee, authorities said.

The woman was arrested and charged with misleading police, said Anne Murphy, a spokesperson for the Marshals Service.

“We do not know what the connection is yet, and investigators here in Ohio and Mississippi are working to figure that out,” she said.

Hughes will be in an Ohio jail until his extradition to Mississippi to continue the rest of his life sentence, authorities said.