Two Ector County Inmates Re-Captured After Escape
By: Dylan Brooks
Updated: March 7, 2011
ODESSA -- Two Ector County inmates have been recaptured after they escaped from the Ector County Detention Center Saturday morning.
Rickey Lavell Taylor, 32, and Robert Steven Dudley, 38, were captured around 6 PM Saturday. Investigators questioned the inmates shortly after they were captured.
Taylor and Dudley broke out of the jail Saturday morning by cutting a hole in a panel in their showers and getting on to the Detention Center roof. The Ector County Sheriff's Office, Odessa Police Department, Texas Rangers, U.S. Marshals and Department of Public Safety all teamed up to search for the escapees.
This is the second time that Dudley and Taylor broke out of the Ector County Detention Center this year. The inmates broke out of the jail on January 29th, along with inmate Russell Graham Rice. The three were re-captured hours later. At that time, Ector County Sheriff Mark Donaldson said mistakes were made, and immediate changes were implemented to keep inmates from escaping again.
Along with the escape charges from these incidents, Taylor is facing murder charges for the 2009 killing of Johnny Lee Mackey. Dudley is accused of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon. Neither inmate has been indicted.
Attorney David Zavoda was slated to represent Dudley and Taylor in their separate cases. However, Zavoda recently removed himself from Dudley and Taylor's cases, since he felt that prosecutors might offer either the suspects a plea deal that would force them to testify against the other suspect. Zavoda told Big 2 that this scenario would present a conflict of interest for him.
Rickey Lavell Taylor, 32, and Robert Steven Dudley, 38, were captured around 6 PM Saturday. Investigators questioned the inmates shortly after they were captured.
Taylor and Dudley broke out of the jail Saturday morning by cutting a hole in a panel in their showers and getting on to the Detention Center roof. The Ector County Sheriff's Office, Odessa Police Department, Texas Rangers, U.S. Marshals and Department of Public Safety all teamed up to search for the escapees.
This is the second time that Dudley and Taylor broke out of the Ector County Detention Center this year. The inmates broke out of the jail on January 29th, along with inmate Russell Graham Rice. The three were re-captured hours later. At that time, Ector County Sheriff Mark Donaldson said mistakes were made, and immediate changes were implemented to keep inmates from escaping again.
Along with the escape charges from these incidents, Taylor is facing murder charges for the 2009 killing of Johnny Lee Mackey. Dudley is accused of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon. Neither inmate has been indicted.
Attorney David Zavoda was slated to represent Dudley and Taylor in their separate cases. However, Zavoda recently removed himself from Dudley and Taylor's cases, since he felt that prosecutors might offer either the suspects a plea deal that would force them to testify against the other suspect. Zavoda told Big 2 that this scenario would present a conflict of interest for him.
