Search continues for escapee near Birmingham
BIRMINGHAM — The search continues in metro Birmingham for a capital murder suspect accused of overpowering a bailiff and escaping from the courthouse in Bessemer.
Authorities said Wednesday they had found a van that was stolen during the escape Tuesday afternoon. They also believe the prisoner broke into the home of a woman west of Birmingham.
But officials have yet to locate the fugitive, 20-year-old Lakendall Sims of Lipscomb.
Sims fled a Jefferson County courthouse in Bessemer after overpowering a bailiff and taking his gun while being taken to a court hearing.
Sims and three other men are charged with capital murder in the shooting death of a Lipscomb man last year. Sims already is serving 20 years in prison after pleading guilty in January to rape in a sexual assault that occurred two years ago.
