CARROLLTON, Ga. — A manhunt is underway for missing inmate Melvin Barkley, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison without parole in November of 2023 in the killing of 23-year-old Tyler Waters.
Barkley was being housed at the Georgia Department of Corrections Atlanta Transitional Center in Midtown on Ponce De Leon Avenue. A facility that typically houses inmates who have approximately four years or less on their sentence. It’s a facility that helps transition inmates back into society.
The GDC explained that the facility has two goals, “First, prepare adult male felons who are nearing the end of their incarceration to assume responsible citizenship. Second, maintain an on-the-job (OJT) workforce of felons who have up to forty-two months left on their sentence to operate outside details for various state agencies at no cost to taxpayers. Atlanta Transitional Center is the host facility for the Metro Complex.”
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The GDC said they have launched an internal investigation into how he ended up at the transitional facility.
According to GDC, Barkley had a theft conviction on Nov. 1, 2023, with a release date of July 22 of this year, and he said his placement at the transitional facility was appropriate for that charge.
However, eight days later, he was convicted on Nov. 9, 2023, of voluntary manslaughter, along with other charges, in the homicide of Tyler Waters in Carrolton in 2018.
GDC said in an email to 11Alive on Tuesday that they did not receive the paperwork for the new conviction until Dec. 1, 2023. At that time, GDC said, "Barkley should have been removed from the TC (transitional center) and transported back to state prison."
On Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, Berkley never returned to the transitional center from work, according to the GDC.
The next day, the father of the man he killed in 2018 said he received a call from someone who had spoken to Barkley’s roommate at the transitional centers and alerted them he’d gone missing.
“It’s just hard to believe, man, it really is,” Larry Waters said.
When Waters saw the facility where his son’s killer was being housed, he was outraged.
“That looks like a little apartment; one could come in and out of any time if they wanted to, go do what they want to, go to McDonald’s get a hamburger whatever, not ever come back,” Waters explained.
While the facility doesn’t exactly run that way, Waters said he just doesn’t understand how a man who was convicted and sentenced to 30 years in prison without parole could be allowed to just walk out the front door.
“I can’t believe he got out like that,” Waters said.
He added, “It shouldn’t have been allowed to happen; I mean, if he would have been put where he should have been, where they told me he was going to be put, I don’t believe it would have happened.”
Waters said when they were told Barkely had escaped, they were also told to “watch our back because he was headed for us.”
When asked if he believed Barkley would return to Carrollton, Waters answered, “Oh yeah, my kids won’t even sleep in their rooms, they don’t want to go to school, they took my bedroom over, my wife sleeps right there and I sit here all night long with my gun in my hand, just waiting on him to open my doorstep on my porch.”
Waters’ son was just 23 years old and had welcomed a baby girl into the world when he was stabbed in the neck following an argument and fight with Barkley. Waters said it’s still hard to come to terms with the fact his son is gone even six years later.
Waters said he was hoping that after the plea deal and sentencing, he’d never have to worry about Barkley hurting anyone else again.
“We were hoping but it doesn’t look like that’s going to be happening,” Waters said.
He said due to Barkely’s extensive criminal record and the fact he killed his son, he’s worried with Barkley having nothing left to lose, someone else might get hurt before he’s re-captured.
Waters said they were told numerous agencies, including the U.S. Marshals Service, are involved in the search for Barkley. He said they know he has family in South Carolina, but as of Tuesday night, they’ve not gotten any details on where he might be.
Anyone who spots Barkley or might know where he is should call 911 immediately.