BY BETH HUNDSDORFER - News-Democrat
It all started with a T-shirt.
It ended with a $17,000 fingerprint system, added security measures for the St. Clair County Jail, an injured Texas trooper, a 30-day suspension for a corrections officer and a three-year prison sentence for the T-shirt's owner.
Darryln K. Byrd, 44, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to aiding the escape of a relative, Elijah Muhammad, who was in the St. Clair County Jail on home invasion and aggravated assault charges. Byrd gave Muhammad his "Curt Smith" T-shirt, police said, then posed as Byrd when someone posted his $100 bond and walked out of jail.
"(Byrd) is a cautionary tale," said Sheriff Mearl Justus. "Here he was, a guy in here on a misdemeanor charge with a $100 bond, now he's going to prison for three years."
From his cell in St. Clair County Jail where he has been since the night he was plucked drunk off the street, Byrd said he heard Muhammad tell another inmate he would "do whatever it took" to avoid prison.
"I was suffering from a hangover," Byrd said. "He took my shirt."
Byrd, a disabled veteran who has abused alcohol since age 14, said he wants treatment, but that isn't likely because his crime will keep him at an elevated security level. This is his first trip to state prison.
After Muhammad's release from the St. Clair County Jail, he fled the area. Police found him at a Texas driver's license office where he was trying to get a license. He resisted arrest and a trooper's ankle was broken in the struggle.
Muhammad was charged with escape and remains in the St. Clair County Jail where he awaits trial.
Just steps away, the jail's booking center has added new security measures in response to Muhammad's escape, including a $17,000 computer program to verify who is walking in and out of the jail.
Incoming inmates will be fingerprinted by a digital device which will be compared to the jail's database to see if that inmate has been to the jail before. If so, their identity can be confirmed. When an inmate is released from the county jail, another set of fingerprints is taken to ensure the correct person is being readied for release. The inmate also will be asked a series of verification questions, then the correction officer and their supervisor must sign off on the jail's paperwork.
"It provides a measure of accountability," Justus said.
Sgt. Tammy Grime said officers were already training on the new system. Jail Superintendent Phillip McLaurin said the system would be up and fully running by the end of the month.
The correctional officer who released Muhammad was suspended for 30 days without pay because he failed to compare departing inmates to their booking photos. He returned to work where he continues his employment as a correctional officer, McLaurin said.
