New Orleans jail escapee releases videos, prompting search of home where
they were made, source says
[June 04, 2025]
By JIM MUSTIAN and JACK BROOK
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A man who identified himself as a New Orleans jail
escapee released videos on social media while still on the run, leading
to a police raid that failed to recapture him, an Associated Press
source says.
Authorities were so convinced about the authenticity of the videos that
they searched a home a little over 2 miles (3.7 kilometers) from the
jail late Monday where they believe the recordings were made by escapee
Antoine Massey, according to a senior law enforcement official who spoke
to The AP on condition of anonymity. The official said he wasn't
authorized to publicly discuss the ongoing investigation into the May 16
escape by 10 inmates.
Massey was not at the New Orleans home on the edge of the Fairgrounds
and Gentilly neighborhoods, the official said, but authorities did
locate clothing they believe he wore during filming.
The owner of the home, Shedrick Burnell, said it was being rented and
declined to name the tenant. He told AP by phone that he had never seen
or heard of Massey before the jailbreak and the videos circulated
online, but he appeared unfazed that a fugitive had likely used his
property as a hideout.
“I’m 76, I’ve seen a helluva lot worse than this,” said the Louisiana
native. “As long as my tenant is safe, there’s nothing I can do.”
When an AP reporter knocked at the home Tuesday afternoon, no one
answered.
Next door, a house under construction had been kicked in and the
backdoor, gate and windows were open — likely due to the police search,
said Tariq Aldahir, an electrician who had been working on that
property, adjacent to where Massey had allegedly been hiding.
“It’s a little scary -- if he is as dangerous a criminal as they say he
is, what is he capable of doing?” Aldahir said. “He’s desperate -- any
human being who is desperate, there’s no limit to what they can do.”
Authorities were tipped to the videos, posted online Sunday, by
relatives who recognized the residence.
Authorities are racing to recapture Massey and convicted murderer
Derrick Groves, more than two weeks since the audacious breakout. Eight
other escapees have since been recaptured.
State Police Superintendent Col. Robert Hodges said that despite the
agency’s confidence in its investigations, “things change at a moment’s
notice and it’s usually because someone has helped them.” He encouraged
people to keep offering tips. Authorities are offering a $50,000 reward
per escapee.
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The Orleans Parish jail is pictured in New Orleans on Friday, May
16, 2025.(Brett Duke /The Advocate via AP, file)
Louisiana State Police, the agency leading the search, declined to
comment on whether it had verified Massey's identity in the videos.
The agency carried out the search related to the videos — since
removed from Instagram — which seemingly show a man with the same
facial tattoos as Massey sitting near a kitchen.
“Please, I’m asking for help,” said Massey, appealing to President
Donald Trump and several rappers including New Orleans native Lil
Wayne in one video. “When I get back in custody I’m asking y’all
please to come and help.”
Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson urged Massey to surrender,
adding in a statement: “Cooperating with law enforcement is in his
best interest and may help avoid additional charges."
Massey, 32, faced charges of rape, kidnapping, domestic violence
involving strangulation and violation of a protective order all
stemming from a November 2024 incident, authorities in nearby St.
Tammany Parish say. In Orleans Parish he faced charges of motor
vehicle theft and domestic battery.
Massey said he's innocent and also claimed on video that he'd been
“let out” of jail.
A woman police identified as being in an on-again, off-again
relationship with Massey — and who suffered from domestic abuse at
his hands, police reports indicate — was arrested and charged with
obstruction of justice and as a principal to aggravated escape,
court records show. Authorities said the woman knew of Massey’s
escape plans beforehand, communicated with him afterward and misled
authorities.
During a Tuesday press conference, Gov. Jeff Landry, a
tough-on-crime Republican, urged the two escapees “quit the
hide-and-seek game” and turn themselves in.
Video and images from the breakout show inmates had yanked open a
faulty cell door, removed a toilet and crawled through a hole where
steel bars had been cut before using blanks to get over a barbed
wire fence.
A maintenance worker charged with helping the incarcerated men
escape has denied knowingly aiding them, via his lawyer.
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