The corrections officer overseeing work detail for a group of Carroll County Prison inmates last week, when one of them walked away from the site, has turned in his resignation.
Tommy Shane Morton was working on a road crew in the area of East Ranchette Road and Taylors Ginn Road before he walked off Monday, May 6 around 9:30 a.m. Morton is serving a 10-year sentence for manufacturing marijuana and theft by taking out of Coffee County. According to online records, he has been in and out of prison since 1996, mostly for property crimes and theft in Coffee and Jeff Davis counties.
A short time after the escape, the on-duty 39-year old corrections officer was placed on administrative leave with pay while the Georgia Department Of Corrections conducted an investigation.
“The suspension is standard following situations of this nature,” Carroll County’s Human Resources Director Anne Lee Told WLBB Radio.
However, the officer — who had been employed with Carroll County since August of 2013– resigned on Monday, May 13.
The Georgia Department Of Corrections declined to answer questions requested by WLBB Radio last week. Their attorney said investigation into the incident is ongoing and “investigative files and intelligence data prepared by the department’s office of professional standards are classified as confidential state secrets and privileged under law,” therefore the info we requested is not subject to release under the Open Records Act.
Morton remains at-large as of Thursday morning.
The U.S. Marshals Service is offering a $1,000 reward for information that leads to MortonÂ’s capture.
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