Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Family, love cited in jail escape
Jensen Lefan told investigators she helped her brother Brady Kilpatrick escape from an Alabama jail because he’s family.
And Lefan’s boyfriend, Hayden Mayberry, told authorities he helped his girlfriend because “you do crazy things for love,” according to a Martin County Sheriff ’s arrest report.
Now, both are sitting in jail after Martin County Sheriff’s investigators say they helped Kilpatrick evade authorities by driving him about 800 miles to a home near Tequesta, where he was arrested around 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Lefan, 18, and Mayberry, 24, are charged with aiding an escape.
Kilpatrick was facing marijuana and drug paraphernalia charges when he escaped Walker County Jail in central Alabama on Sunday. According to Walker County Sheriff James Underwood, Kilpatrick was among a dozen prisoners who worked a scheme that used peanut butter to change the numbers above a door and trick a new employee into opening another door that led outside.
Lefan told investigators that Kilpatrick called her Sunday from an unknown phone number shortly after the escape, wanting to be picked up, according to the report.
Lefan and her boyfriend borrowed a car and headed to central Alabama. When they found Kilpatrick, his hands were still bloody from climbing the 15-foot razor wire fence surrounding the jail.
“Go!” Kilpatrick yelled as soon as he got into the car. That started a nearly 800-mile trip as the trio slept in Walmart parking lots and bought everything with cash until reaching a house in the 10000 block of Southeast Hobart Street in Tequesta.
“Ms. Lefan advised that she was scared whenever she saw a law enforcement vehicle and was concerned that someone would recognize her brother Kilpatrick as the escapee on the news,” an investigator wrote in the report.
Authorities tracked down Kilpatrick after a tip came into the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office that Kilpatrick was in the southern part of Martin County.
Investigators narrowed down the location to a house somewhere on Hobart Street. Deputies there found a car with Alabama license plates parked outside a house. Kilpatrick was found inside, Martin County Sheriff William D. Snyder said.
Snyder thinks everyone involved in Kilpatrick’s escape has been captured but he said more arrests are possible.
“Out of all the counties in the United States to hide, I would tell you I think the last one I would pick is Martin County,” Snyder said.
Investigators interviewed Lefan, who said she helped her brother escape because he’s family, according to the report.
Mayberry told a detective he knew Kilpatrick was a fugitive but considered him family because he planned on marrying Lefan.
“Mayberry advised that he knew it was wrong to aid in Kilpatrick’s escape but stated “you do crazy things for love,” according to the report.
Kilpatrick was the last of the 12 inmates to be found. He later told investigators that he ran for two hours after escaping the jail. The others were all found within 12 hours of the escape, according to the Martin County Sheriff ’s Office.
Also arrested was Dakota Anthony, 23, who deputies pulled over in a traffic stop. A detective recognized Anthony as being connected to people involved in the Alabama jail escape. His house is where authorities found Kilpatrick.
Deputies found Anthony with four pills of Alprazolam and arrested him for possession of a controlled substance. The charge was unrelated to the escape and Anthony bonded out of jail Tuesday night, Snyder said.
Kilpatrick, Lefan and Mayberry all appeared for their first appearance in court Wednesday afternoon.
Kilpatrick is being held without bond while Lefan and Mayberry were in Martin County Jail on $7,500 bond.
Kilpatrick wants to head back to Alabama so he requested to waive his right to fight an extradition hearing.
Snyder said Kilpatrick admits to being in a gang and will eventually be sent back to Alabama. Snyder said he doesn’t have any concerns about Kilpatrick escaping from his jail.
“I don’t like to brag but we’ve never had an escape from the Martin County Jail and I can tell you this,” Snyder said, “he’s not getting any peanut butter.”