MACON, Ga. — A grand jury indicted four inmates at the Bibb County jail earlier this month for starting a fire in the B300 cellblock, the same wing where four other inmates escaped, an incident report and indictment show.
According to the report from the Bibb County Sheriff's Office, the fire happened on Nov. 8, 2023 at around 7:30 p.m., roughly a month after Johnifer Barnwell, Chavis Stokes, Marc Anderson and Joey Fournier orchestrated a jailbreak.
"The fire appeared to be substantial and the smoke being emitted was very thick and black causing it to be nearly impossible to see further than a couple of feet in front of oneself," the incident report read.
A grand jury issued the indictment on Feb. 6 in Bibb Superior Court, court records show.
The fire and smoke were so bad that, according to the incident report, they had to evacuate the entire cell block to "get them safely away from the smoke."
The incident report says Tajiri Antwaun Harris, who was residing in cell B313 on murder charges, started the blaze. According to the indictment, it appears Harris was able to start the fire by using an electric wire in his cell.
However, the incident report and indictment accuse three other inmates — Gregory White, Devon Stapleton and Shondricos Ingram — of contributing their bed matting, jail-issued clothing and other belongings to fuel the fire.
"Inmates residing in cell B315, B316 and B317 were passing bed-matting materials down to B-313 so it could be added to the fire," the incident report read.
Now, the four inmates have two other charges added to their case file: third-degree arson for their role in the fire and interfering with government issue property for the damage to their jail-issued belongings worth around $25.
On top of the arson charges, Harris was also indicted for aggravated assault.
The assault, according to the indictment, was the fire in the cellblock, and it accuses Harris of using the "electrical wire in his jail cell" to set the fire "with intent to murder" Bibb County Sheriff Lt. Jason Jones.
Prior to the fire, Ingram was in jail on murder charges in the death of Mariah Stanfield, according to previous reporting. Jail records show Stapleton was charged on a laundry list of charges including armed robbery, kidnapping and aggravated assault.
White was in jail for aggravated assault, burglary along with many other charges, according to the jail website.
The fire adds to the list of recent incidents at the Bibb County jail, a facility that family members of inmates complain is unsafe, unsanitary and dangerous.
In a press conference after the escape, Bibb Sheriff David Davis said that the B300 block is among the oldest parts of the jail and noted serious issues with jail conditions.
“We have a 43-year-old jail. This happened in the oldest part of the jail… the most rundown part of the jail,” Davis said at the time. “I’ve been talking about how we need a new jail, we need a new jail – and we have a jail that is falling down on us, that is breaking down.”
The Bibb County escapees were all captured about a month after the Oct. 16 jail escape. The fourth and final inmate, Joey Fournier, was recaptured on Nov. 18.
Macon-Bibb County mayor Lester Miller said after the jailbreak that he wanted to put a new jail on the next SPLOST, a .01% sales tax that goes towards funding government projects.