A $52,500 reward is being offered in the search for a West Tennessee convict and murder suspect in the death of a corrections warden in Lauderdale County.
TBI Director David Rausch says a murder warrant has been obtained for 44-year-old Curtis Ray Watson, who escaped Wednesday from the West Tennessee State Penitentiary in Henning.
Department of Correction Commissioner Tony Parker says 64-year-old administrator Debra Johnson was found dead in her residence Wednesday. Johnson lived in a property on the complex.
Watson was serving a 15-year sentence on an especially aggravated kidnapping conviction. He worked at the prison as a farm laborer.
The TBI says Watson should be considered extremely dangerous.
Residents are being asked if they see Watson to call 911.
