Tennessee murder convict escapes prison, steals work truck

A manhunt has begun for a 28-year-old Tennessee inmate serving a life sentence for murder after he fled a state prison and stole a pickup truck.

Jacob Allen Morley escaped the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville on Sunday night. Staff found him missing during a count at 11:30 p.m. and searched the facility. Security footage showed him cutting through a fence while still wearing his prison clothes.

Video captured Morley taking a vehicle around 1:00 a.m. on Monday. He stole a white 2008 Ford F-350 from the 400 block of Keystone Drive, about two miles south of the prison. The truck belongs to Lindamood Planting Company and has an air compressor in the bed. Its Tennessee license plate reads 138BBQV.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation placed Morley on the state most wanted list and described him as dangerous. He is 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighs 240 pounds, and has brown hair and green eyes. Federal and state law enforcement agencies are helping with the search. People with information can call 844-832-3463.

Morley received a life sentence in 2025 for the 2022 murder of Cody Birchfield. He was also convicted of burglary, vandalism, tampering with evidence, and evading arrest. Birchfield disappeared in early February 2022 after being last seen in Elizabethton. Carter County Sheriff's Office investigators found signs of a violent crime in the home. Morley was arrested in March 2022 after a police chase crossed into North Carolina. Birchfield's body was found under Morley's house.

Landree Sheperd, Morley's former girlfriend, testified at the trial that he admitted to killing Birchfield. She said he told her, "he f, ing killed him." The escape adds a new urgency to a case that concluded with a conviction three years ago. Officials continue to review video and witness accounts to locate the fugitive.