An escaped North Carolina inmate convicted of killing a 1-year-old girl was captured by police early Friday after a manhunt that involved hundreds of local officers and federal agents.
Ramone Alston, 30, fled Tuesday morning as he arrived at a hospital for a medical appointment. He was apprehended shortly before 2 a.m. at a hotel in Kannapolis, a city north of Charlotte.
"He was taken into custody without injuries to anyone," the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction said in a statement.
Alston will now be charged with felony escape from prison and will be placed in a high-security state prison, where he will continue his life sentence while waiting for a court appearance.
The department confirmed the arrest in a statement and also said a woman, Jacobia Crisp, was arrested in Alamance County and charged with aiding and abetting a fugitive, which is a felony.
"The investigation will continue to determine [Alston's] movements since he escaped on Tuesday, any additional accomplices that aided him, and if he committed any other crimes while on the run," the department said.
The reward for information that led to his capture had grown to $50,000, with $30,000 authorized by Gov. Roy Cooper, $10,000 from the U.S. Marshals Service, and $10,000 from the FBI.
"I am grateful to our DAC staff and thankful for the support and effort from hundreds of local, state and federal public safety officers who helped in the search and investigation that returned Alston safely to custody," said Todd Ishee, Secretary, North Carolina Department of Adult Correction. "This was an incredible collaborative effort of many people and agencies."
Alston escaped at around 7 a.m. Tuesday shortly after his transport vehicle arrived at the UNC Hospitals Hillsborough Campus. He freed himself from leg restraints and jumped out of the vehicle, and while still in handcuffs, ran into the adjacent woods, the Department of Adult Correction said.
Officials said Wednesday that more than 300 law enforcement personnel from 19 agencies searched 1,335 acres around the medical facility.
Alston was convicted in 2018 of first-degree murder in the Christmas Day 2015 shooting that killed 1-year-old Maleah Williams in Chapel Hill.
She was playing outside her apartment when someone opened fire from a vehicle, and she was struck as a bystander. Alston’s defense argued that he was present but did not kill the girl. Two other men were arrested, but only one has been targeted for prosecution.
Alston was handed a life sentence. He has been serving his sentence at the Bertie Correctional Institution in Windsor, North Carolina.
