A man who escaped from a Mississippi jail and is suspected in a Monday killing died after barricading himself in a home and setting it on fire during an armed standoff with deputies. Plumes of smoke emanated from the charred remains of the home in Conway, hours after a body was recovered. Dylan Arrington, 22, perished in the home, setting it ablaze after shooting a deputy in the leg, Leake County Sheriff Randy Atkinson told The Associated Press. “He inflicted that kind of terror after escaping from jail, killing people, and shooting law enforcement. But that guy won’t be killing anyone else,” Atkinson said. Authorities had been pursuing Arrington and three other inmates who broke out over the weekend from a Mississippi jail under federal scrutiny. Casey Grayson, Corey Harrison, and Jerry Raynes are the other three prisoners who escaped Saturday night from the Raymond Detention Center, a facility near Jackson through breaches in a cell and the roof. Arrington is suspected of killing a 61-year-old church pastor, and stealing his pickup truck after the escape.
The owner of the torched Conway home saw someone matching Arrington’s description hiding inside a trailer behind his house on Tuesday. He notified the sheriff’s office and fled with his family. Investigators found no trace of Arrington. Around 7 a.m. Wednesday, Atkinson and a deputy returned to the property with the homeowner, who discovered Arrington inside. He sprinted outside and alerted the officers. Arrington exchanged gunfire with them through a window, striking the deputy in the leg. The house was set ablaze from within. Investigators waited until the fire was out before they approached the home and found a body. Law enforcement agencies continued searching parts of the state after the Leake County Sheriff’s Office told residents to “please keep your doors locked and have no keys or weapons in your vehicles.” Raynes, Grayson, and Harrison remained at large. The four escapees had been in custody for various felony charges, most involving theft. Arrington had charges of auto theft and illegal possession of a firearm.