A large-scale cross-jurisdictional manhunt has been launched across northwestern Tennessee after a 28-year-old convicted murderer, Jacob Allen Morley, broke out of a state correctional facility over the weekend, prompting widespread public safety alerts and coordinated deployment of law enforcement resources. Official records from the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) confirm Morley, who is serving a life sentence with no eligibility for release until December 2083, was first discovered unaccounted for during routine rounds at the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville late Sunday night, triggering an immediate emergency headcount and containment sweep within the prison grounds. Subsequent review of perimeter security camera footage verified that Morley, who was classified under a low supervision level at the time of the escape, had breached the facility’s outer fencing while still wearing his standard prison uniform before fleeing the immediate prison property. Investigators have publicly released verified surveillance footage that captures Morley stealing an unmarked work truck from a nearby local farm shortly after clearing the prison perimeter, providing critical new leads for tracking his movements. Morley’s criminal record dates back to 2022, when he killed his co-worker Cody Birchfield; Birchfield’s remains were discovered hidden inside a storage box under Morley’s residential property, following a high-speed cross-state police chase that stretched into North Carolina to apprehend him. He was formally convicted of first-degree murder in June 2025, alongside additional charges including aggravated burglary, tampering with evidence, vandalism, and evading arrest, resulting in the life imprisonment term. State authorities have now added Morley to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s top most wanted list, with a public reward of up to $2,500 being offered to anyone who provides actionable information that leads directly to his safe apprehension. To support the sweeping search operation, the Tennessee Highway Patrol has mobilized aerial surveillance assets and dozens of state troopers to comb rural roadways, wooded areas and local communities within a 100-mile radius of the correctional complex, which sits roughly 90 miles north of Memphis. The escape marks the second recent security incident at Tennessee state correctional facilities: earlier this month, 69-year-old aggravated robbery convict Gregory Redden escaped from custody but was taken back into custody within a very short timeframe. The string of security lapses comes just weeks after a high-profile botched lethal injection of death row inmate Christa Pike in September, which prompted the resignation of then-TDOC Commissioner Frank Strada and sparked ongoing reviews of the state prison system’s operational protocols and staff training standards.
Manhunt under way for Tennessee killer who escaped prison through a fence
