CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — A convicted felon was still on the run as of Friday night and is possibly somewhere in metro Atlanta.
Devonte Ross is the second criminal able to escape custody, in separate incidents, here, in two days.
The first inmate was captured late Thursday night. But Ross was still a fugitive Friday night, and it’s not the first time he has escaped custody.
So, there are a lot of questions about how Ross was able to get away from his captors, Thursday, and about whether he has been, for years, taking advantage of revolving-door justice to get out of prison more than once.
On Thursday, Ross told his captors he wanted some food. Ross was back in custody after escaping in March, and he was being driven back to state prison, in handcuffs and waist chains.
The private, inmate-transport officers who were driving Ross to the prison stopped at a QuickTrip for him on Riverdale Road in Clayton County. And, somehow, Ross was able to get out of the vehicle and escape again.
Immediately, the Clayton County Sheriff’s Office, which had not been responsible for transporting Ross, and other law enforcement agencies flooded the area looking for Ross, suspecting he might be hiding with friends in the area.
Devonte Ross had not only run away still in his cuffs and chains, but his face and neck are covered in tattoos, and law enforcement officers were hoping he couldn't get far without someone noticing him and calling 911.
Devonte Ross was born in 1992 and has a record of felony convictions.
He also has the ability to stay mostly out of prison despite his record.
For a 2012 burglary in Douglas County, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. It was his second burglary conviction.
By 2017 Ross was already out of prison and trafficking drugs in Cobb County. He was sentenced to five years for that.
But, then, Ross was let out of prison again, assigned to a work-release program in Atlanta. On March 20, 2021, Ross fled that program. On April 1, he was captured in California.
And, on Thursday, he was flown back to Atlanta—and the private security officers were driving Ross from the airport, back to state prison, when Ross told them he was hungry.
Devonte Ross is 5 feet 9 inches tall, 135 pounds. And police and deputies are urging people to call 911 if they know where Devonte Ross might be now or call the Georgia Department of Corrections, 478-992-5111.