Debra Johnson, 64, was found murdered in the staff housing where she lived on the premises of the West Tennessee State Penitentiary Wednesday morning, according to the Tennessee Department of Correction. An escaped inmate is the prime suspect.
Curtis Ray Watson, 44, escaped from the prison Wednesday on a tractor, and was initially named a person of interest in Johnson's homicide Wednesday. Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch said during a news conference Thursday afternoon that agents are working with Lauderdale County’s district attorney to charge Curtis Ray Watson in the death of West Tennessee State Penitentiary employee Debra Johnson. Rausch said Watson is now considered a suspect in Johnson’s death, reports WBBJ .