‘Pretty Boy Floyd’ says he escaped from Greene County prison to avoid being killed
Convicted killer Michael “Pretty Boy Floyd” Wilson said he felt he had no choice but to escape from the South Mississippi Correctional Institute in Leakesville because he feared for his life.
He eluded authorities for three days in July 2018, and caused a manhunt across the Coast with residents reporting sightings in several cities before his capture.
Wilson’s attorney, Chris Dobbins, said the threat against Wilson’s life forced him to do what any “reasonable person” would do and escape from the Greene County prison on July 5, 2018, to avoid “serious violent injury or death.”
Wilson, 48, had told prison staff that other prisoners had threatened him, but Assistant District Attorney Carolyn Lewis pointed out he did not tell prison staff who made the threats, so the staff had nothing to investigate.
A jury heard testimony this week from prison staff and a newspaper publisher who had given Wilson a ride after the escape before convicting him as a habitual offender for felony escape.
Judge Kathy King Jackson on Wednesday sentenced Wilson to life in prison without parole. The judge ordered the sentence to run consecutively to two life sentences Wilson is already serving.
Wilson was indicted as a habitual offender because he has a lengthy criminal history. He was convicted on two counts of murder in 2015 for beating two men to death in 2014 in Harrison County, Carmen Dale Edwards in Biloxi and Kenneth Gibson in Gulfport.
In the days leading up to the July 5, 2018, prison escape, Dobbins said prison staff did nothing to protect the inmate.
That’s why, Dobbins said, his client felt he had no choice but to escape by scaling a razor wine fence.
“He reported the threats multiple times,” Dobbins said, arguing that the reason his client escaped should be considered before convicting him of the crime.
“The state (corrections officers) didn’t take action,” Dobbins said. “He did what any reasonable person would do. He removed himself from that situation. You heard from MDOC that he had reported those concerns and those threats.”
Wilson was captured at a home in Jackson County’s St. Martin community.
“I commend the hard work and dedication of the law enforcement agencies who worked diligently to search for, and ultimately, apprehend, the defendant after his escape,” District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath said. “I am proud of the verdict and sentence handed down today.”
Lewis and Assitant District Attorney Elliot Burch prosecuted the case.
This story was originally published February 26, 2020 at 10:56 AM.
