MORGAN COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) – A Hartselle woman has been arrested by the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office for helping inmate Jeremy Taylor escape from the jail on Sunday.

On Tuesday, March 7, 2023, the MCSO said that Jodie Ann Kilpatric, 51, of Hartselle surrendered herself at the Morgan County Jail. She was arrested on a first-degree permitting or facilitating escape warrant for her role in Taylor’s escape.

The warrant was obtained by investigators after they discovered Kilpatric allegedly assisted Taylor once he left the Morgan County Jail.

Jodie Kilpatric (Photo: Morgan County Sheriff’s Office)

MCSO said that on Sunday morning Morgan County Jail corrections officers notified the sheriff’s office that Jeremy Taylor, of Hartselle, escaped from the jail. He was located in Franklin County, Tennessee and taken into custody early Monday morning.

A post by the MCSO said that investigators and US Marshalls conducted over 20 interviews over 12 hours following his escape, gathering “tips from the public and other bits of information to determine the whereabouts of the escaped inmate.”

Jeremy Taylor was picked up by Morgan County deputies for transport and brought back to the Morgan County Jail Tuesday. (Photo: Morgan County Sheriff’s Office)

Taylor was picked up from the Franklin County Jail on Tuesday by Morgan County transport deputies and brought back to Alabama, and booked back into the Morgan County Jail on a second-degree escape charge, in addition to his previous charges.

A spokesperson for the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office, Mike Swafford, told News 19 it is believed that Taylor was able to use the bed in his cell block as leverage to kick through a window that’s “actually built into the building.”

Swafford said corrections officers noticed Jeremy Taylor was missing during a headcount.

MCSO said they believe Taylor was able to escape by busting through a window that was previously considered to be securely built into the facility. (Morgan County Sheriff’s Office)

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Taylor, now back in custody at the Morgan County Jail, has a bond set at $250,000 for the second-degree escape charge. However, MCSO says he will be held on no bond for the following charges, which he had prior to the escape:

  • Two counts of domestic violence – rape
  • Two counts of burglary – breaking & entering auto
  • Kidnapping an adult for sexual assault
  • Two counts of first-degree sodomy
  • First-degree burglary of a non-residence
  • Unlawful possession of a controlled substance

Kilpatric is being held in the Morgan County jail in lieu of $2,500 bond.