PA. GUARD FIRED AFTER ESCAPE

A prison tower guard has been fired after letting a murderer slip out on his watch in a brazen daytime escape last week, county officials said Friday, as the nine-day-old search pressed on amid suburbs, farms and the lush gardens of a vast botanical garden.

The guard, an 18-year-veteran of the Chester County Prison, was fired Thursday, county spokesperson Michelle Bjork said. He was on duty in the watchtower on Aug. 31 when Danelo Souza Cavalcante scaled a wall by crab-walking up it, climbed over razor wire and jumped from a roof.

Cavalcante’s escape went undetected for more than an hour until guards took a head count. The guard, who had been on administrative leave after the escape, also had his personal cellphone on him at the time, a violation of the facility’s protocol, the spokesperson said.

Bjork said she did not know the specific reason for the firing.

Cavalcante, a 34-year-old from Brazil, has since eluded hundreds of law enforcement personnel southwest of Philadelphia.

He was sentenced to life in prison last month for killing his ex-girlfriend in front of her children in 2021. He escaped while awaiting transfer to state prison. Prosecutors say he killed her to prevent her from telling police that he’s wanted in a 2017 killing back in Brazil.

As the search enters its second week, nervous residents remain alert for any sign of the fugitive. There have now been nine sightings of him since his escape.

The search Friday focused around Longwood Gardens, which was closed indefinitely after reports that Cavalcante may have once again been spotted on the property.