Jesse Mathews

An admitted cop-killer has been moved from a medium security prison in Tiptonville, Tenn. to the maximum security West Tennessee State Penitentiary in Henning, Tenn., after local prosecutors contacted the state corrections office.

Jesse Mathews killed Chattanooga police Sgt. Tim Chapin on April 2, 2011 during a botched robbery at the Brainerd Road money store.

In November 2012 he pleaded guilty and received life without parole rather than face the death penalty.

Last Thursday District Attorney General Bill Cox and Executive Assistant District Attorney Neal Pinkston learned from family and police officers that Mathews was housed in the medium-security prison.

Pinkston contacted the Tennessee Department of Corrections and sent a letter further detailing the danger Mathews posed to police and the public.

Corrections officials contacted the district attorney's office this afternoon with news that Mathews had been re-classified based on their communication and moved to the maximum security prison.

For more see tomorrow's Times Free Press.