10 escape from New Orleans jail through hole in cell wall while lone
guard left to get food
[May 17, 2025]
By JACK BROOK, JIM MUSTIAN and SARA CLINE
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Ten men broke out of a New Orleans jail Friday in an
audacious overnight escape by fleeing through a hole behind a toilet and
scaling a wall while the lone guard assigned to their cell pod was away
getting food, authorities said.
Seven of the escapees, including suspects charged with murder, remain on
the lam following the breakout that the local sheriff says may have been
aided by members within the department.
Surveillance footage, shared with media during a news conference, showed
the escapees sprinting out of the facility — some wearing orange
clothing and others in white. They scaled a fence, using blankets to
avoid being cut by barbed wire, and then some could be seen sprinting
across the nearby interstate and into a neighborhood.
A photograph obtained by The Associated Press from law enforcement shows
the opening behind a toilet in a cell that the men escaped through.
Above the hole are scrawled messages that include “To Easy LoL” with an
arrow pointing at the gap.
The absence of the 10 men, who also utilized facility deficiencies that
officials have long complained about in their escape, went unnoticed for
hours. It was not until a routine morning headcount, more than seven
hours later, that law enforcement learned of the escape.
Officials from the sheriff’s office say no deputy was at the pod where
the fugitives had been held. There was a technician, a civilian there to
observe the pod, but she had stepped away to get food, they said.
Soon after the escape, one of the men, Kendall Myles, 20, was
apprehended after a brief foot chase through the French Quarter. He had
previously escaped twice from juvenile detention centers.
By Friday evening, two more fugitives had been captured. Officials found
Robert Moody, 21, in New Orleans thanks to a Crimestoppers tip,
according to Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office. Dkenan Dennis was found
near the Chef Menteur Highway, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill
announced on the social platform X.
Sheriff blames ‘defective locks’ and possibly inside help
Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson said the men were able to get out of
the Orleans Justice Center because of “defective locks.” Hutson said she
has continuously raised concerns about the locks to officials and, as
recently as this week, advocated for money to fix the ailing
infrastructure.
Hutson said there are indications that people inside her department
helped the fugitives escape.
“It’s almost impossible, not completely, but almost impossible for
anybody to get out of this facility without help," she said of the jail,
where 1,400 people are being held.
The escapees yanked open a door to enter the cell with the hole around 1
a.m.
At least one of the steel bars protecting plumbing fixtures “appeared to
have been intentionally cut using a tool,” according to a statement from
the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office on Friday night.
The men shed their jail uniforms once out of the facility, and it is
still unclear how some of them obtained regular clothing so quickly,
officials said.
Authorities did not notice the men were missing until 8:30 a.m.
Authorities initially said 11 had escaped, but at a Friday afternoon
news conference said one man thought to have escaped was in a different
cell.
Three employees have been placed on suspension pending the outcome of
the investigation. It was not immediately clear whether any of the
employees were suspected of helping with the escape. Officials also
didn’t say if the guard who left to get food was among the three
suspended.
Who are the fugitives?
The escapees range in age from 19 to 42. Most of the men are in their
20s.
One of the fugitives, Derrick Groves, was convicted on two charges of
second-degree murder and two charges of attempted second-degree murder
last year for his role in the 2018 Mardi Gras Day shootings of two men.
He also faces a charge of battery against a correctional facility
employee, court records show. Law enforcement warned that he may attempt
to locate witnesses in the murder trial.
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This photo obtained by The Associated Press on Friday, May 16, 2025,
shows an opening inside a cell at the Orleans Justice Center in New
Orleans. (AP Photo)
Another escapee, Corey Boyd, had pled not guilty to a pending
second-degree murder charge.
Hutson said the police department was actively working with local,
state and federal law enforcement agencies to search for the
fugitives.
Police relied on facial recognition technology to identify and
capture one fugitive, said Bryan LaGarde, executive director of
Project NOLA, a nonprofit operating more than 5,000 cameras around
New Orleans. His organization, which partners with Louisiana
authorities, entered the escapees' images into the system and
quickly found two in the French Quarter.
"They were walking openly in the street. They were keeping their
heads down and checking over their shoulder.” LaGarde said, adding
that the other fugitive walked out of sight of the cameras.
State and local officials blast jail authorities
“This represents a complete failure of the most basic
responsibilities entrusted to a sheriff or jail administrator,” said
Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams. He blasted the
sheriff’s office for a multi-hour delay in notifying authorities and
the public of the escape. “These inexcusable failures have put lives
in danger.”
Murrill, the state's attorney general, called the escape “beyond
unacceptable" and said local authorities waited too long to inform
the public. She said she reached out to surrounding states to alert
them about the escape.
New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said
her agency has put “a full court effort” to respond to the escape
and is working with the FBI and U.S. marshals.
Officers were focused on identifying and providing protection for
people who may have testified in their cases or may be in danger.
One family has been “removed” from their home, Kirkpatrick said.
“If there is anyone helping or harboring these escapees, you will be
charged,” Kirkpatrick added.
Turmoil at New Orleans’ jail
New Orleans’ jail has for more than a decade been subject to federal
monitoring and a consent decree intended to improve conditions.
Security problems and violence persisted even after the city opened
the Orleans Justice Center in 2015, replacing the decaying Orleans
Parish Prison, which had seen its own string of escapes and dozens
of in-custody deaths.
A federal judge declared in 2013 that the lockup had festered into
an unconstitutional setting for people incarcerated there.
Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson said staff is “stretched thin”
at the facility, which is around 60% staffed.
Bianka Brown, chief financial officer of the Orleans Parish
Sheriff’s Office, said they can't afford a maintenance and service
contract to fix problems such as broken doors, lock replacements and
other ailing infrastructure.
The jail contained numerous “high security” people convicted of
violent offenses who required a “restrictive housing environment
that did not exist,” said Jay Mallett, Orleans Parish Sheriff’s
Office chief of corrections. The sheriff’s office was in the process
of transferring dozens to more secure locations.
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Associated Press writer Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed to this
report.
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