Convicted Atlanta rapist escapes from prison, captured hours later with 2 accomplices

HANCOCK COUNTY, Ga. — A convicted rapist escaped from a Georgia state prison on Wednesday night, but has now been captured along with two others accused of helping him escape.

D’Shawn Garrison is currently serving a sentence until 2046 for various violent crimes, including the 2019 rape of a woman who was jogging in her northwest Atlanta neighborhood.

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Garrison escaped from the Johnson State Prison in Wrightsville, Georgia on Wednesday. The Georgia Department of Corrections along with other agencies put out a “be on the lookout” alert for Garrison, warning the public not to approach him and call 911.

On Thursday morning, Channel 2′s ABC affiliate WJBF reported that Garrison was spotted in Washington County and deputies made contact with a car that matched a description of a car in the BOLO.

The TV station reported that a small chase ensued and the car crashed in Hancock County with Garrison and two others ran away from the crash.

Deputies eventually tracked all three of them down.

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Channel 2 Action News has reported for years on Garrison’s violent criminal history and his more than a dozen arrests as a minor.

Atlanta police said Garrison was already out on bond on a theft charge when he raped a woman jogging through the Carver Hills neighborhood in broad daylight in May 2019.

Channel 2′s Michael Seiden spoke with the rape victim who said it was a miracle she survived.

“It was just a vicious attack, and I think he would’ve killed me, eventually. I probably had a few more minutes left in me,” she said.

Garrison entered a guilty plea on rape, aggravated assault strangulation, and battery substantial physical harm charges in March 2022. He was sentenced to 25 years and life on probation, according to Fulton County court records.

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