The hunt for an escaped convict serving a life sentence for murder continued for a second day Wednesday as the reward for his capture rose to $35,000.
Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood said police received a number of tips last night and tracks found by sniffer dogs indicate he may be headed north.
He urged residents and businesses to check their doorbells and surveillance cameras to see if they caught a glimpse of the 30-year-old escaped convict, Ramone Alston.
“I’ve known Ramone since he was born,” said Blackwood, who went to school with Alston’s father. “He was a troubled child and he’s been involved in criminal activity since he was a minor. He’s extremely cunning and extremely dangerous.”
Alston has been on the run since 7 a.m. Tuesday, after he broke free of his leg shackles while riding in a prison van from Bertie Correctional Institution to UNC Hospitals. Alston was being taken from the van to the hospital for a medical appointment when he knocked an N.C. Department of Adult Corrections guard to the ground and ran into the woods, officials said.
Alston’s hands were still bound with handcuffs attached to a belly chain. Officers tried to grab him, but he escaped, Blackwood said.
At least 114 local, state and federal police officers continued to search a 1,800-acre (760-hectare) area through the night. On Tuesday, they knocked on doors of people near the hospital to talk to them and used dogs to search the often steep terrain for Alston’s trail.
The “intensive search on the ground” will continue Wednesday, and an “exhaustive search is taking place in the rest of the world outside that immediate area,” said Kirby Saunders, director of Orange County Emergency Services.
Police will be canvassing areas on Wednesday where sniffer dogs found tracks “looking for any signs that Mr. Alston may have been there — footprints, discarded remains, handcuffs, a belt — anything we can find that could confirm the direction of travel and how he evaded capture,” Saunders said.
Sheriff’s departments from multiple counties, local police departments, the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force, NC Highway Patrol officers and the Department of Adult Correction’s jail emergency response team were called in to assist.
Todd Ishee, secretary of the N.C. Department of Adult Corrections, appeared with Blackwood at a news conference Tuesday afternoon but declined to discuss how Alston escaped from his leg shackles.
The Adult Corrections Department is investigating what happened from the time the van left the Bertie County Jail to the time Alston escaped, including whether officers were involved, police said.
According to Blackwood, the officers were unable to use their firearms to detain Alston because they were still in a locked safe in the van, which is standard procedure when transporting prisoners.
$35,000 Reward; Durham Tech Still on Lockdown
There were a few sightings immediately after Alston fled, Blackwood said Tuesday, but the former Orange County resident remained elusive. The state Department of Corrections is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to Alston’s arrest. On Wednesday, the U.S. Marshals added $10,000 to the reward.
“Someone knows this was planned and who was involved. We hope this motivates them to do the right thing and let us know so we can bring this to a successful and just conclusion,” Blackwood said.
The escape briefly shut down the campus of UNC Hospital in Hillsborough on Tuesday. A lockdown remained in place at Durham Tech’s Orange County campus, which is across the street.
The community college remained in “yellow status” on Wednesday, with classes virtual and only essential staff coming to campus.
People in the area are advised to keep their doors, vehicles and windows closed.
Alston is described as 5-foot-11 and 230 pounds. He was last seen wearing a gray T-shirt, brown pants, and white New Balance tennis shoes. He may also be wearing black prison-issued shorts under his pants.
Blackwood said Alston has two tattoos. One, on his chest, is a dotted tattoo of the word “flame” with a star in the middle. The other is the word “faggot” on his right arm. Alston had dreadlocks when he escaped, but it’s possible he’s changed his appearance, Blackwood said.
Anyone who sees Alston should call 911 immediately and not approach him, Blackwood said. The public can also call a special hotline set up to receive tips in the case at 919-324-1082.
Sentenced to life for murder
Alston is serving a life sentence at Bertie Correctional Institution in Windsor, North Carolina, after being convicted in 2018 of first-degree murder in the shooting death of 14-month-old Maleah Williams on Christmas Day 2015 in Chapel Hill.
Williams was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting in the parking lot of the Trinity Court Apartments, where children were playing with their Christmas presents. A bullet hit Maleah in the back of the head as her mother Tylena Williams held the girl in her arms. She died three days later in the hospital.
Alston was driving the car when it stopped at a dumpster, and he told investigators that Pierre Je Bron Moore, who had planned to confront someone at the compound, got out and began shooting. Prosecutors said at his trial that Alston also began shooting.
Moore was convicted of second-degree murder in 2019 and sentenced to nearly 35 years in prison. He is currently in Tabor Correctional Institution, records show. Prosecutors have dropped charges against a third man suspected of involvement in the 2016 shooting.
Contributors Jessica Banov and Korie Dean contributed to this story.
