A Hopkinsville man who pled guilty last month to shooting an Illinois sheriff’s deputy was captured after a weekend escape attempt ahead of his final sentencing.
Ray Tate escaped his jail cell from the Jefferson County, Illinois Jail early Sunday. WEHT-TV reports Tate discovered a way to get out of his cell, due to a flaw in the original construction of the facility. During the escape attempt, Tate damaged jail property at several locations including his cell.
The sheriff’s department said Tate was taken into custody by Mount Vernon Police without incident, adding the jail was already on night shift lockdown status when Tate was apprehended.
Tate pled guilty last month to first-degree murder in the death of Wayne County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Riley. According to police, Tate shot and killed Deputy Riley in late December before going on a spree into Missouri where he shot someone in St. Peters, Missouri during a carjacking.
Tate was arrested after barricading himself inside someone else’s home in Carlyle, Illinois. The kidnapping victim and homeowner were uninjured.
Court records showed Tate was on mandatory reentry supervision, which ended a week before his crime spree, on charges of fleeing police, possession of meth, and wanton endangerment.
Tate is scheduled to be sentenced on the murder charge next week.
