A North Carolina sheriff issued a new warning Wednesday as the manhunt for an escaped convicted murderer, Ramone Jamarr Alston, dubbed the “Christmas Day Killer,” entered its second day.
Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood said he grew up with the escapee’s father and has known him for a long time.
“He was a troubled child, and he’s been involved in criminal activity since he was a juvenile,” he told reporters during a Wednesday morning briefing streamed on Facebook. “He’s extremely cagey. He’s extremely dangerous. And he has nothing to lose.”
NORTH CAROLINA MANHUNT LAUNCHED FOR CONVICTED MURDERER WHO ESCAPED ON WAY TO HOSPITAL: SHERIFF
Alston escaped from his guards while on the way to UNC Hillsborough Hospital around 7 a.m. Tuesday, according to authorities.
He was serving a life sentence for the 2015 Christmas Day murder of 1-year-old Maleah Williams.
Authorities are offering a reward of $35,000 for information that leads to his capture and are asking anyone with home security cameras in the area to check them for possible evidence.
He may have headed north after escaping, but Blackwood said law enforcement has “no concrete leads” about his whereabouts.
“When he ran, he was in dreadlocks,” the sheriff said. “It’s quite likely that he cut them, but we don’t know that with any certainty.”
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Alston has a large tattoo across his chest of the word “Flame” with a star in the center. On his right arm, he has a tattoo of the word “niece.”
When he escaped, Alston was wearing a gray T-shirt, brown pants and white New Balance sneakers. Although he somehow freed himself from his leg restraints, he was still wearing handcuffs connected to a chain around his waist.
He was last seen running into the woods near the hospital.
He fled while the correction officers’ firearms were locked in a secure box in the transport vehicle, authorities said.
Authorities were expected to give another update on the manhunt by 4 p.m. Wednesday.
Alston was at the wheel and one of two gunmen in a drive-by shooting in Chapel Hill in 2015, according to the News & Observer. They opened fire in an apartment complex, and one of the bullets struck Maleah in the back of her head as her mother held her in her arms.
Fox News’ Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.
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