Investigators have outlined their cases against four prisoners who escaped in January from the Columbia County Justice and Detention Facility.
Charges have also been filed against six other inmates who took part in the jail takeover, and a seventh person who is alleged to have assisted one of the escapees.
Probable cause affidavits signed by Arkansas State Police and Columbia County investigators offer more details about the January 30 escape that saw two jailers assaulted – they were the only ones on duty to oversee about 90 prisoners in the lockup.
The four escapees are individually charged with first-degree escape, battery in the first degree on a correctional officer (two counts each), and theft of property over $5,000 (two counts each).
The four escapees were:
Rico Jermaine Rose, 32, who was jailed on a charge of capital murder in the November 12 shooting death of Demontray C. Hall.
Dariusz Patterson, 19, who was jailed on 13 counts of committing a terroristic act in connection with a September 27 shooting at the Rider Ridge (formerly Fox Creek) Apartments.
Meadow Saulsberry, 19, who was also jailed in the Rider Ridge shooting and who may have been the actual gunman.
Denickolas Maurice Brown, 32, who was jailed for drug and firearms offenses.
Affidavits against the four escapees, and the seven other suspects, were filed Friday and Monday in Columbia County Circuit Court.
Columbia County Detective Akari Alexander wrote the affidavits involving the four escapees, and each affidavit is almost identical.
Alexander swore in the affidavits that about 1:22 a.m. Monday, January 30, deputies learned that several inmates had taken control of the jail. The deputies made a forced entry into the control room and found jailer Mallory Wyrick, who was handcuffed with her hands behind her back.
“She states that one of the inmates had approached her from behind, hitting her in the head multiple times, and handcuffed her. She then stated the inmate handcuffed her behind her back.
“Jailer Micah Schamehorn was located in Pod 6 handcuffed to the bed. Schamehorn stated that inmate Rico Rose had come up from behind and placed him in a choke hold. Rose was then assisted by two other inmates in controlling Schamehorn. The inmates began pulling Schamehorn’s keys from his pockets. At this point Schamehorn became unconscious,” the affidavit said.
Alexander’s affidavit said a review of audio and visual recordings from inside the jail identified Rose as the prisoner who attacked and handcuffed Wyrick.
Another video showed the four escapees leaving the jail. One video shows Rose getting into a Ford Escape owned by Patrick Morrison. Another video shows Saulsberry, Patterson and Brown getting into a Toyota Corolla owned by Wyrick.
None of the affidavits explain how Rose was able to get into a position to attack Schamehorn.
Prisoner Shaivonn Robinson, 22, was charged with impairing the operation of a vital public facility, and first-degree escape. Robinson is one of the four men who were jailed on capital murder charges in the August 11, 2020 shooting death of Joshua Keshun Smith at Southern Arkansas University.
An affidavit by Special Agent Adam Pinner of the Arkansas State Police said that once Rose handcuffed Schamehorn to a bed and got his keys, Rose walked out of his assigned pod and gave the keys to another inmate, who began unlocking other pod doors. Several prisoners walked out of their assigned pods or individual cells.
Pinner’s affidavit said several commissary items were stolen and security cameras were damaged. Other items in the jail were also damaged. Male prisoners went into the pod where female prisoners are held, and female prisoners went into pods where male prisoners are held.
“These inmates had total control of the Columbia County Jail,” Pinner’s affidavit said.
Pinner wrote that Robinson walked out the back door of the jail kitchen and ran toward the north gate of the detention center. He got into the front passenger seat of jailer Wyrick’s vehicle, but got out and eventually ran back into the jail through the kitchen door.
Robinson and the four escapees remain in the county jail.
Five other prisoners face charges of impairing the operation of a vital public facility for their actions during the jail takeover. They are:
Scotdarrious Ellis, 18, of Magnolia. He is accused of entering the female prisoners’ pod and damaging a video camera.
Robert Fuller, 27, of Stamps; Frank Williams, 54, of Magnolia; Huey Henry, 59, of Magnolia; and Ashton Johnson, 19, of Stamps, are all accused of entering the female prisoners’ pod.
Ellis and Henry have since been released from the jail but Fuller, Williams and Johnson remain jailed.
Nikki L. Kirkpatrick, 39, of Hot Springs was charged with hindering apprehension.
Special Agent John Rhone of the Arkansas State Police said in an affidavit that on the day of the escape, Kirkpatrick, the girlfriend of Denickolas Brown, received a call from him. He asked her to pick him up at a convenience store in Arkadelphia.
Brown told Kirkpatrick that “they needed to get off the road as soon as possible” and they went to a Hot Spring hotel. “Kirkpatrick stated when they got in the room, Brown told her he had broken out of jail,” the affidavit said.
Kirkpatrick said she later dropped off Brown at another Hot Springs hotel, where he was arrested by U.S. marshals and the Arkansas State Police.
