7 men still at large after New Orleans jailbreak, reward at $20K each
The reward for tips leading to their recapture was raised to $20,000 per person on Sunday as federal and state authorities pleaded for the public's help in the case.
'We hope that in the coming days, if not the coming hours, that we have them all apprehended,' Louisiana State Police top cop Robert Hodges said at a Sunday press conference. 'But we need the public's help.'
Investigators said they had leads on all seven men, but none had panned out by Monday afternoon. Three men who escaped the Orleans Parish jail early Friday morning had already been rearrested, one of which was aided by tips from the public, authorities said.
But while Kendell Myles, Robert Moody, and Dkenan Dennis were nabbed by Saturday night, Corey Boyd, Leo Tate, Jermaine Donald, Derrick Groves, Lenton Vanburen, Antoine T. Massey and Gary C. Price remained at large Monday.
Donald, 42, had been charged with second-degree murder, and Price, 21, was accused of attempted first-degree murder. Groves, 27, had already pleaded guilty to manslaughter in connection with a shooting that killed two people during Mardi Gras in 2018.
Officials said the men likely had outside and inside help to get out of the jail. Three Orleans Parish sheriff's employees were suspended without pay shortly after the jailbreak. Police said anyone found aiding the seven men in their escape would also face charges.
'These are violent offenders who need to be put back into police custody immediately,' Gov. Jeff Landry said Sunday.
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Advertisement Groves faces life imprisonment without parole, but administrative delays have kept him in jail for years rather than a more secure prison facility. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up '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. Advertisement 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. 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. Advertisement '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. Advertisement 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.
