KALAMAZOO (WKZO AM/FM) –The Kalamazoo County Jail had a suspect in a violent murder jump twin barriers during a recreation period outside and make it all the way into Kalamazoo before he was recaptured.
Donnavan Lewis, who is being held for the brutal murder of Aniya Mack in June, is a former college basketball player and was reportedly able to scale the two tall fences topped by barbed wire before the deputies watching the yard were able to react at about 10:30 this morning.
Undersheriff Jim VanDyken says he stripped off his orange jumpsuit as he approached town and was wearing boxers and a pair of tennis shoes.
He says it was a very dangerous situation because he had no cell phone, was being sought by every officer in the county, in his underwear, and that made him a desperate fugitive.
Van Dyken says they put out a call for all available cruisers to converge on the area to look for the escapee. He was taken into custody about 33-minutes after he escaped near the Westnedge Hill neighborhood on South Burdick.
The inmate will be formally charged with prison escape on Thursday. That may not be much of a punishment given the charges he faces.
VanDyken says his classification will be changed, he will be housed in a more secure area of the jail, some of the priveleges he had to move around will be restricted and he will lose access to the recreation yard.
