A man charged with helping his cousin, a Delta Correctional Facility inmate, escape during an eye doctor’s appointment in 2009 was scheduled to go to trial today.
Courtney Logan of Louisville, Ky., is charged with helping Joseph Jackson Jr. escape while Jackson was at The Eye Station.
Logan allegedly fired a handgun at the ceiling of The Eye Station before he escaped to Tennessee with Jackson in a rental car.
Nashville Police Sgt. Mark Chestnut pulled the men over along the interstate for a traffic violation. As he was looking at their driver’s licenses, Jackson shot Chestnut five times. Chestnut survived the shootings.
In December 2011, Jackson was sentenced to 25 years in state prison in Mississippi with no possibility of early release for the escape.
Also last December, Logan was sentenced to 31 years in Tennessee for his role in the shooting. He was to be tried today in Leflore County Circuit Court for his involvement with Jackson’s escape.
According to Leflore County District Attorney Tim Jones, Logan is charged with aiding escape, possession of a firearm by a felon and several counts of kidnapping. Jury selection was scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. in the Leflore County Courthouse.
At the time of the incident, Jackson was serving a life sentence from Montgomery County for armed robbery and assault in Delta Correctional Facility.
Logan has a lengthy criminal background in addition to the charges he accumulated during the escape.
• Contact Jeanie Riess at 581-7235 or jriess@gwcommonwealth.com.
