A man charged with escaping a Middle Georgia jail was being treated at a Macon hospital without law enforcement supervision, and it’s now unclear which agency was supposed to be responsible for the detainee.
The Jones County Sheriff’s Office blamed River Edge Behavioral Health for not communicating the detainee’s whereabouts, but also charged the detainee with a felony for allegedly escaping jail.
Daniel Ross Garrett, 35, was incarcerated at the Jones County Jail and recently showed signs of a psychological crisis, according to JCSO Chief Earl Humphries.
“We don’t have the facilities here to treat somebody for mental health disorders. (River Edge) do…,” Humphries said.
A judge granted the sheriff’s office’s request, or a 1013 order, to have Garrett involuntarily evaluated for the mental health emergency, so deputies took him on March 27 to River Edge’s Crisis Services and Diagnostic Center in Macon, Humphries said.
The testing determined Garrett needed further treatment, so he was taken to Piedmont Hospital, but River Edge staff didn’t tell deputies he was moved, according to Humphries.
“They took him to the hospital, didn’t notify us that he had to go to the hospital, and then he was transferred to yet another hospital, and nobody knew, and he was then later just discharged,” Humphries said.
Garrett was discharged from the second hospital, Atrium Health Navicent, and allegedly left around 8:30 p.m. May 3, Humphries said.
He also said the sheriff’s office believes hospital staff didn’t know Garrett was a detainee.
Deputies found Garrett about 12 hours later on Martin Luther King Boulevard in downtown Macon, a few blocks from Atrium. He was charged with escaping custody, according to Humphries and a Facebook post by the JCSO.
“I understand his plight, but… I mean he left the hospital, he left custody,” Humphries said.
It was unclear if Garrett requested to be discharged and when he left River Edge’s care.
Humphries said Garrett should’ve stayed at Atrium to avoid being charged with escape, but also said, “I don’t even think the hospital knew he was an inmate. We had nobody at River Edge accompany him, nobody that notified us, we had no idea that he had gone to the hospital.”
However, a deputy is supposed to stay with a detainee while they’re hospitalized. That didn’t happen in this case, according to Humphries. Jail staff thought Garrett was still at River Edge, Humphries said.
Garrett was booked into the Jones County Jail in October 2025. He was charged with two counts of aggravated stalking, unlawful eavesdropping or surveillance, and simple battery.
‘The duty is on the sheriff’s office’
Humphries blamed River Edge for not disclosing they hospitalized Garrett, but the sheriff’s office also charged Garrett with escape.
A Middle Georgia law expert, who’s not connected to the case, said it could be the sheriff’s office’s fault that Garrett did not return to jail after being discharged.
Bill Hervey, a health law professor at Middle Georgia State University, said it is not a hospital’s duty to keep someone in custody.
“It’s very clear, statutorily, the duty is on the sheriff’s office,” Hervey said. “With the health care providers, it’s not so cut and dry. There’s no statutory duty to keep them in custody.”
Georgia’s Mental Health Parity Act states the law enforcement agency is responsible for a person’s custody while they’re under an involuntary psychiatric hold.
According to Humphries, Jones County Probate Judge Lewis Patterson ordered Garrett be released from jail for the medical evaluation, but Patterson’s office denied The Telegraph’s requests for the court document or to comment on the case.
1013 orders are not public record due to medical privacy, according to Georgia’s Open Records Act.
Atrium and Piedmont have similar policies surrounding how custody works as a patient.
An Atrium spokesperson told The Telegraph in an email: “Due to state and federal privacy laws, we cannot address any specific patient nor individual circumstances. What we can share is when a patient is in custody, law enforcement officers should remain with the patient, as caregivers do not have a legal authority to detain them.”
According to Piedmont Macon’s policy regarding detainees, the hospital does not assume custody of a person arrested by a law enforcement agency. Piedmont declined to comment on any patient’s care due to privacy laws.
Cass Hatcher, CEO of River Edge, said he was unaware of the incident and did not confirm or deny what happened.
Garrett’s attorney didn’t respond to The Telegraph’s requests for comment prior to publication.
“I think there’s a lot of folks just kind of covering their tracks right now,” Hervey said.