10 inmates escape New Orleans jail; 7 remain on the run
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE/Gray) - Seven inmates, including three charged with murder, remain at large after they escaped a jail in New Orleans early Friday morning.
Ten inmates escaped from the Orleans Justice Center sometime after midnight. Authorities reported that one of the inmates has been recaptured.
The escape was discovered during a routine headcount at 8:30 a.m., according to Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson. The jail was then placed on full on lockdown.
“Someone clearly dropped the ball and there’s no excuse for this,” Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a statement.
A photo obtained by WVUE shows the hole in the jail’s wall that inmates reportedly used to escape, according to law enforcement sources. Scribbled around the hole are messages, including “To Easy LOL,” “Catch us when you can,” “We innocent,” and “Most Hated.”
The escapees were identified as Antoine Massey, Lenton Venburen, Leo Tate, Kendell Myles, Derrick Groves, Jermaine Donald, Corey Boyd, Gary Price, Robert Moody, and Dkenan Dennis.
Myles was recaptured in a French Quarter parking garage Friday. A source said he was spotted in the area using facial recognition technology on a Project NOLA camera.
The inmates are considered armed and dangerous, the sheriff’s office said. Groves, Donald and Boyd are all charged with murder.
Groves is the only escapee with a conviction. He was convicted on two charges of second-degree murder and two charges of attempted second-degree murder for his role in a fatal shooting during Mardi Gras in 2018.
The charges of the other inmates range from illegal weapons possession to attempted murder, according to court documents.
How the inmates escaped remains under investigation.
Hutson blamed, in part, defective locks on cell doors. She said a monitor was in the pod where the inmates yanked open a cell door and breached a wall behind a toilet around 1 a.m. The inmates exited a door normally used for supplies, scaled a wall, and crossed Interstate 10.
She also said investigators believe the escapees received assistance from individuals inside the sheriff’s office. An internal investigation is underway.
The FBI and U.S. Marshal’s Offices are assisting with the search for the escaped inmates along with local and state law enforcement agencies.
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Editor’s Note: A previous version reported eleven inmates had escaped. The sheriff’s office later said one of the inmates had been moved to a different facility and erroneously counted among the escapees.
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