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Joshua Zimmerman is being extradited, Mississippi Department of
Public Safety spokesperson Bailey Martin confirmed Wednesday to
The Associated Press. She would not say when he is being moved,
and it was not immediately clear whether Zimmerman is
represented by an attorney.
“Due to this being an open and ongoing investigation, no further
comment will be made at this time,” Martin said.
Zimmerman was arrested Aug. 21 at a seafood restaurant a few
blocks from the United Center in Chicago, where the Democratic
National Convention was taking place. The Marshals Service said
there was “no connection or threat to the event or those
attending.” Investigators said they believed Zimmerman was
working at the restaurant.
Zimmerman was wearing street clothes and was not handcuffed when
he fled from the DeSoto County Courthouse in Hernando,
Mississippi, on June 14.
At the time of the escape, Zimmerman was set to make a court
appearance on Mississippi charges of attempted murder and armed
robbery. He was also awaiting extradition to Texas, where he is
charged with murder, the U.S. Marshals Service said.
According to court records in Harris County, Texas, Zimmerman is
accused of fatally shooting a woman, Keyanna Mercer, at a
Houston motel on Sept. 2, 2023. The two were asked to leave the
motel after multiple complaints of fighting, and when staff
members checked the room to see if they had left, they found
Mercer’s body with a gunshot wound to the head, police said.
Court records also show Zimmerman was arrested in Connecticut in
2022 on a felony sexual assault charge. He pleaded not guilty
and was freed on a $200,000 bond, but a warrant was later issued
for his re-arrest.
Days after Zimmerman's arrest in Chicago, the DeSoto County
Sheriff's Department in north Mississippi said it had set new
security procedures. A former deputy jailer was fired from his
job and charged with conveying articles useful for the escape of
a prisoner.
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