The man convicted of murdering Joey Hayes in Trigg County in 2018 is back in Christian County Jail.
According to the Christian County Jail website, James Gentry was booked into jail Friday.
He is charged with Failure to Appear and Tampering With A Prisoner Monitoring Device. Gentry cut off his ankle monitor and failed to show up for court the day he was convicted on murder and robbery charges in Trigg County in July. He was arrested in California in late October by the U.S. Marshals Office.
Gentry was arraigned on the Christian County charges Friday morning.
Gentry had been on the run since failing to show up for the final day of his trial in Trigg County Circuit Court on July 27. Prior to the start of the day in court, police alerted court officials that Gentry had cut off his ankle monitor in Hopkinsville. It was found in the 2600 block of Cox Mill Road. Gentry had been free on a reduced cash bond since March and was required to wear the monitor.
The Trigg County jury needed only 34 minutes to return the guilty verdict in July and needed half that time to hand down a sentence of life in prison without parole for 25 years against Gentry.
He was arrested shortly after the murder of Christian County resident Joey Hayes, whose body was found in a barn off Buffalo Road in eastern Trigg County in November 2018. Hayes had been shot five times.
Gentry is scheduled to be sentenced for Hayes’ murder in Trigg County Circuit Court on December 8.
