Convicted murderer Derrick Groves eludes law enforcement as last New
Orleans jail escapee on the run
[July 09, 2025]
By JACK BROOK
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Nearly two months after 10 inmates escaped from a New
Orleans jail by crawling through a hole behind a toilet, authorities
have recaptured all but the man with the most violent rap sheet: Derrick
Groves.
Following the May 16 jailbreak, law enforcement tracked down three
escapees within 24 hours and most of the others within the next few
weeks. While some of the fugitives roamed through nightlife hotspots and
another made Instagram posts, Groves has so far kept a low profile.
The 28-year-old New Orleans native has the most at stake, authorities
say. Last year, a jury convicted Groves of killing two people after he
opened fire on a family block party with an assault rifle in what
prosecutors said was a feud with rival drug dealers.
Groves faces life imprisonment without parole, but administrative delays
have kept him in jail for years rather than a more secure prison
facility.
“He’s got nothing to lose,” said Forrest Ladd, an Orleans Parish
assistant district attorney who prosecuted Groves. “That’s a dangerous
thing from anybody, much less somebody capable of causing mass harm.”
How likely is it Groves will be recaptured?
More than 90% of people who escape from U.S. correctional facilities are
recaptured within a year, said Bryce Peterson, adjunct professor of
criminal justice at John Jay College.
“The longer you are out there, the more likely you are to stay out,”
said Peterson, though he believes Groves will be caught eventually due
to the high level of media attention.
Most escapes occur when low-level offenders seize spontaneous
opportunities, Peterson said. The New Orleans jailbreak stands out
because of its level of “sophistication and pre-planning” and the
alleged roles current and former jail employees played in the escape, he
added.
How has Groves avoided law enforcement for so long?
Multiple defense attorneys who have worked with Groves described him as
intelligent and polite. Prosecutors in his cases say he is violent,
manipulative and remorseless.
“He’s the worst human being I’ve ever come across in my life,” said
Ladd, the Orleans Parish assistant district attorney. “But he is a very
charismatic, and I think that allows him the ability to kind of control
people.”
A former jail employee who became Groves’ girlfriend during his
incarceration is accused of helping him coordinate the escape in advance
by arranging phone calls that avoided the jail's monitoring system. She
is one of at least 16 people — many family members of the escapees —
facing charges for providing transport, food, shelter and cash to the
fugitives, most of whom stayed within New Orleans.
Several days after the escape, authorities received information that
Groves was hiding in the city’s Lower Ninth Ward, the Hurricane
Katrina-ravaged neighborhood where he grew up, according to court
documents.
State and federal authorities declined to provide details on Groves'
suspected whereabouts. Louisiana State Police Superintendent Col. Robert
Hodges indicated he believes Groves is receiving assistance from friends
or family.
“Sometimes we think we are incredibly close,” Hodges said during a June
27 news conference, adding that authorities would arrive at a location
to find a fugitive “just moved because they have help.”
There is a $50,000 reward for tips leading to Groves’ recapture.
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Residents watch as law enforcement search for a fugitive that
escaped a prison in New Orleans, May 21, 2025. (Chris Granger/The
Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP, File)
Mistrust in the criminal justice system
Likely impeding the search for Groves is widespread skepticism
toward law enforcement from city residents following decades of
abuse, often against the Black community. In 1994, a corrupt police
officer ordered the killing of Groves’ grandmother, Kim Groves,
after she reported him for beating up a teenager. Her three children
settled a federal civil rights lawsuit with the city for $1.5
million in 2018.
“For my family, it’s been like reliving a constant nightmare,”
Groves’ aunt, Jasmine Groves, told WDSU, saying the family has been
interrogated and remains under law enforcement surveillance. She has
urged her nephew to turn himself in.
Groves’ mother and aunt did not respond to The Associated Press’
requests for comment for this story.
In 2014, at the age of 17, Groves was arrested and incarcerated for
nearly two years on a charge of attempted second-degree murder for
which he was later acquitted by a jury, though his own father had
testified against him, according to court records and a prosecutor
in the case, Mike Trummel.
Tom Shlosman, Groves’ defense attorney in that case, said that
Groves' prolonged incarceration as a teenager and his grandmother's
murder likely undermined his faith in the criminal justice system.
Shlosman remembered Groves as “young and scared.”
“None of that’s going to affect a kid in any positive way,” Shlosman
said. “And it’s certainly not going to instill trust in law
enforcement.”
A series of killings
Groves, who goes by “Woo,” dropped out of school in ninth grade and
sold heroin in the Lower Ninth Ward for years, according to court
records. The FBI began monitoring his social media while he was
still a teenager, and Groves pleaded guilty to federal drug
trafficking charges in 2019.
Groves has been in jail since at least 2019, after his involvement
in four killings during an 18-month period.
In October 2024, a jury convicted Groves of second-degree murder for
using an assault rifle to spray dozens of bullets into a family
block party on Mardi Gras, killing 21-year-old Byron Jackson and
26-year-old Jamar Robinson and wounding several others.
Groves later pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges in two separate
shootings, according to the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s
office.
Eyewitnesses in cases involving Groves have been threatened and
physically attacked by him, and others were so intimidated they
refused to testify against him, according to three current and
former prosecutors and court records.
In court, Robinson’s aunt, Janis Robinson, said she had cried every
night since her nephew died: “I don’t know how we are going to get
through it.”
In response, records show, Groves swore repeatedly at her in court.
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