Latoya Ferdinand has lived most of her life near a northeast Atlanta transitional center on Ponce de Leon Avenue.
But she had never even heard of it until Tuesday, or how a former inmate there managed to walk out of the corrections facility more than a week ago and allegedly kill a man Friday night on the Beltline.
In fact, dozens of local residents and employees at several of the shops on Ponce and the surrounding area Tuesday shared the same feelings of surprise. Many said they felt left in the dark after being told about the crime and the victim, who has still not been publicly identified.
“I feel shocked. Like don’t you care about people or care about yourself and your safety and your community?” Ferdinand told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “A lot of people walk their dogs. People run and jog. You know, a lot of people coming in and out in this area. So how’s this gonna be solved when we don’t know what’s going on?”
William Tyler Coleman, 27, was able to walk out one of the 16 emergency exits at the Atlanta Transitional Center when he absconded June 22, according to Georgia Department of Corrections Superintendent Torrenzo Brayboy. Coleman had arrived there May 14 and was in phase one of the work release program at the center, which is not secured by fencing.
Those living in the roughly 100-year-old building normally have about 12 to 15 months remaining on their prison sentences. They are vetted and have to show good behavior before they get there and start finding a job to integrate back into society. After being there for a month, residents enter phase two, which means they can actively look for employment and sign off to head to a job while being housed there.
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
The facility has 27 security employees, with five official headcounts taken each day, Brayboy said. On June 22, officers did a headcount but came up one short.
Inside the facility Tuesday morning, Brayboy said it was rare that someone could get out without staff being notified. “But the thing with that is, if you have someone go out the exit door, by the time we (officers) get to the exit door, we are in downtown Atlanta, so it can be a challenge,” he told the AJC.
The three-story brick building sits behind lush foliage and looks more like an apartment complex than a stereotypical corrections facility. It is located in the 300 block of Ponce, a heavily trafficked stretch of road within view of the recently constructed Krispy Kreme doughnut shop that burned twice in recent years.
Credit: David Aaro / David.Aaro@ajc.com
Credit: David Aaro / David.Aaro@ajc.com
“TCs (transitional centers) are in place to assist offenders with returning to society. More than 95% of offenders will eventually return, and by staying in a TC prior to release, they work outside the facility in real-world jobs in the local communities each day and learn how to readjust,” GDOC spokesperson Joan Heath said Monday. “Unfortunately, some individuals make a decision not to return to the facility from their jobs or otherwise leave the facility.”
More than a week after he walked out, Atlanta police said Coleman eventually made his way Friday night to the 200 block of Montgomery Ferry Drive, about three miles from the center. He’s accused of stabbing a man several times in the neck, rib and back on the Beltline’s northeast trail, according to an arrest warrant.
No one was provoked at the “onset of the attack” and Coleman made “deliberate efforts to cause” the man’s death, the warrant stated. The victim was listed as John Doe in the warrant.
“The situation is definitely unfortunate,” Brayboy said. “It’s outside of the norm for that to happen. Our organization will continue to vet the guys that we bring in and make sure we put in the right guy at the right center, and make sure these guys are ready for it. Unfortunately, we’re dealing with human behavior and you may have those outliers.”
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Nick Rea, who works a few blocks from the center, said getting inmates back on the right path is very important, though he stressed the need for making sure something like this doesn’t happen again.
“Rehabilitation is perfect. It’s the goal that we should be getting to,” Rea said. “But if you can’t have all of the things in place to make sure that it is done correctly, and done safely for anybody who may be around, or just done correctly for the people who are in prison and are getting out and being rehabilitated, there’s no use of doing it.”
Heath said that when an inmate escapes from a fenced or gated prison facility, the GDOC informs the public via social media and issues alerts to local law enforcement. That does not appear to happen with facilities like a transitional center.
Several people walking their dogs nearby Tuesday said they had no idea the facility was there or knew what happened over the weekend, as did employees at nearby businesses and restaurants.
A man who spoke on the sidewalk near Mary Mac’s Tea Room said he had heard about the killing but didn’t realize the suspect escaped from a facility right down the road. A block away, a mother’s eyes lit up in shock after she learned of the stabbing. She expressed the need to immediately tell her daughter who lives in the area.
Coleman is facing charges of murder, aggravated assault and possession of a knife during the commission of a felony, officials said. He was initially held without bond in Fulton County and later transferred to the custody of the GDOC.
Coleman was sentenced to prison in 2021, two years after Gwinnett County police said he tried stealing several phones and punched a man at the Mall of Georgia. He was arrested in 2019 on robbery, battery and criminal intent charges.
Credit: Ben Hendren
Credit: Ben Hendren
He is just the latest inmate to walk out of the Atlanta transitional facility, which houses up to 257 men on work details for various state agencies.
In February, a man convicted of fatally stabbing another man failed to return to work while being housed at the Ponce center. Melvin Barkley, 36, of Carrollton, was eventually tracked down by the U.S. Marshals Service in Franklin, North Carolina, about 125 miles from Atlanta.
Last April, a man convicted of murder roughly 30 years ago walked out of the Atlanta facility, leading to a three-day manhunt. A Gwinnett police K-9 was deployed, and Charles Edward Smith was found behind a home with his arms around the dog. He was eventually handcuffed after a fight, police said.
Those who walk out are not allowed back at the facility, officials said.
“Unfortunately, some individuals make a decision not to return to the facility from their jobs,” Heath said. “When that occurs, the (GDOC) dedicates all of our Fugitive Unit resources toward immediate action and recapture.”
The GDOC did not say if the recent killing would spark changes at the center. The superintendent said they are always thinking about ways to improve security and would continue to closely monitor inmates.
But local residents are left to wonder what steps are being taken to ensure something like this doesn’t happen again.
“I think everyone should be aware of what’s going on, good or bad, to make the community safer,” Ferdinand said.
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