A close friend of a Tennessee murder victim says she fears the convicted killer could hurt someone else after escaping prison and prompting a multi-state manhunt.
Jacob Allen Morley escaped Sunday from the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Tennessee, although officials have not determined precisely when he left the facility. Prison employees realized he was missing at about 11:30 p.m. A review of security footage later showed Morley climbing through the prison’s perimeter fence.
About 1 a.m. Monday, surveillance video showed Morley taking a pickup truck from the 400 block of Keystone Drive, approximately two miles south of the prison, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said. The stolen vehicle is a white 2008 Ford F-350 with Tennessee license plate 138BBQV and “Lindamood Planting Company” branding on its side.
Jacob Allen Morley, 28, was serving a life sentence for the 2022 murder of Cody Birchfield when he escaped from a Tennessee prison Sunday, according to correction officials. (Tennessee Department of Correction)
Morley received a life sentence after his 2025 conviction in the killing of Cody Birchfield, who was murdered three years earlier.
Diana Reid, who was one of Birchfield’s close friends from childhood, told News Outlet she is worried Morley could harm additional people while authorities search for him.
“He’s already been convicted of taking an innocent life. I believe he’s extremely dangerous and I’m genuinely concerned that someone else could end up hurt if he’s not caught soon,” Reid said. “I’m genuinely scared knowing that someone convicted of such a violent crime is out there, not knowing where he’s headed. What he’s capable of doing next is just frightening.”
Surveillance footage shows convicted murderer Jacob Allen Morley inside Northwest Correctional Complex before his escape Sunday. Authorities said Morley was captured on security video breaching a prison fence. (Tennessee Department of Correction)
“He’s got absolutely nothing to lose at this point and someone could become a victim just so he can continue his path to wherever he’s headed,” she said.
Reid remembered Birchfield as “such a kind soul” who “had the biggest heart.”
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“He was more than just a murder victim, that he was someone who was deeply loved. He had a whole life ahead of him and he was completely robbed of that when he was murdered,” Reid said.
With the search for Morley spreading beyond Tennessee, the Missouri State Highway Patrol asked residents to stay vigilant and review home-security footage for possible sightings of the escaped inmate.
Morley is 5 feet, 11 inches tall and weighs about 240 pounds. He has brown hair and green eyes. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation warned that he should be “considered dangerous” and said he has been added to the state’s most wanted list.
Surveillance footage shows Jacob Allen Morley, 28, inside Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Tennessee, before he escaped Sunday. Morley was serving a life sentence for murder, according to the Tennessee Department of Correction. (Tennessee Department of Correction)
Beyond the first-degree murder conviction, Morley was found guilty of burglary, vandalism, tampering with evidence and evading arrest.
Officials said federal and state law enforcement agencies are assisting in the effort to locate him.
Birchfield vanished in early February 2022 after he was last seen in Elizabethton, Tennessee. Investigators with the Carter County Sheriff’s Office found signs that a “violent crime” had taken place inside his home, according to WJHL.
Morley was arrested March 2, 2022, following a police chase that continued to the North Carolina state line. After his arrest, authorities discovered Birchfield’s body beneath Morley’s home.
Landree Sheperd, Morley’s former girlfriend, testified during the trial that he once told her “he f—ing killed him.”
Anyone with information about Morley’s location is urged to call 844-832-3463.
