Tennessee Murder Convict Escapes Prison

A manhunt for a murder convict has expanded across Tennessee after he fled a prison in Tiptonville and took a work truck as he left the area. Jacob Allen Morley, 28, is serving a life sentence for the 2019 killing of Cody Birchfield.

Corrections staff noticed Morley was missing around 11:30 p.m. on Sunday. They immediately ran an emergency count of the facility. Security footage later showed the inmate climbing over a fence while still dressed in his prison uniform.

State investigators said video captured Morley stealing a vehicle on the 400 block of Keystone Drive at approximately 1 a.m. Monday. The location sits about two miles south of the Northwest Correctional Complex. The stolen car is a white 2008 Ford F-350 with Tennessee plate 138BBQV. The truck bears the name Lindamood Planting Company on its side and carries an air compressor in the bed.

Authorities describe Morley as 5 feet 11 inches tall and 240 pounds. He has brown hair and green eyes. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation lists him on the state's most wanted list and advises the public to treat him as dangerous. Federal and state agencies are working together to locate the fugitive.

Morley received his life sentence in 2025 after a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder. He also received convictions for burglary, vandalism, tampering with evidence, and evading arrest. Birchfield vanished in early February 2022 after being last seen in Elizabethton. Officers from the Carter County Sheriff's Office found signs of a violent crime inside the victim's home. Morley was arrested on March 2, 2022, after a chase that crossed into North Carolina. Investigators later found Birchfield's body under Morley's house.

During the trial, Morley's former girlfriend Landree Sheperd testified. She said Morley told her at one point that he killed Birchfield. People who have information about Morley's location can call 844-832-3463.