CAPTURED: Convicted felon who failed to return to Atlanta Transitional Center found

ATLANTA - UPDATE: The Georgia Department of Corrections says Melvin Barkley was apprehended at approximately 2:50 p.m. Feb. 7 in Franklin, North Carolina. 

Through information gathered by the GDC Fugitive Task Force (SERTF), Barkley was reportedly apprehended without incident by the Carolina Regional Task Force, and has been transported to the Macon County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina pending extradition.  

ORIGINAL STORY

The Georgia Department of Corrections Fugitive Unit is looking for a man who failed to report back to a transitional center following his shift at a designated work location on Feb. 2.

Atlanta Transitional Center resident Melvin Barkley was incarcerated for voluntary manslaughter and other charges. Transitional Center residents are employed in outside jobs in the community and reside at the center when they are not at work. The Atlanta Transitional Center is located on Ponce de Leon Avenue near Charles Allen Drive NE. 

Barkley is 5-feet-7 inches tall and weighs 157 pounds. He has blue eyes. He was born in 1987.

Barkley was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and aggravated assault in Carroll County. He was also convicted of possessing a knife during a crime. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison without a possibility for parole, followed by 20 years on probation.

PREVIOUS STORY: Escaped inmate should not have been at Atlanta Transitional Center, GDC says

Barkley stabbed Tyler Waters on May 3, 2018. Barkley and Waters initially got into an argument during a telephone call. Water was upset that Barkley and his fiancé were living with Water's great aunt and not paying rent.

When Waters arrived at the residence, the two got into a physical fight. Waters won that fight and got into his vehicle and drove away. Barkley chased Waters and ran into his vehicle. The two men started fighting again and Barkley stabbed Waters in the throat, severing his cartoid artery and cutting his jugular vein.

Barkley left the scene of the crime and was arrested the next day. He pled guilty on Nov. 9, 2023.

Barkley, who has a lengthy record, has also been convicted of various crimes in Haralson County.