Man gets 40 years for prison escape bid months before expected release date from 7-year sentence

PEARL, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi man was sentenced Monday to 40 years in state prison for breaking out of a correctional facility and holding two people at gunpoint last year, just months before he was to have completed a seven-year sentence.

Shunekndrick Huffman, 21, pleaded guilty to two counts of kidnapping and a circuit court judge sentenced him to 40 years in state prison, Rankin County District Attorney Bubba Bramlett said Monday.

Huffman, who escaped from the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in August 2022, had nearly completed the seven-year sentence for aggravated assault with an expected release date in December of that year.

After Huffman fled the prison, he broke into a nearby home and held three people at gunpoint for hours, according to authorities. They said Huffman then stole a car from one of those held hostage before crashing it and fleeing on foot. He was later found hiding in a trash can and captured two miles (3.2 kilometers) from the prison, WLBT-TV reported.

Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Burl Cain told the news station that the facility would improve its siren system to prevent future escapes.