5 New Orleans jail inmates still on the run; 3 people arrested for allegedly helping in their escape
Louisiana State Police said Wednesday they have arrested two women, Cortnie Harris and Corvanntay Baptiste, for their alleged roles in helping the 10 inmates escape last Friday. They are charged with felony offenses for helping the men after the escape.
Earlier this week, a maintenance worker at the Orleans Parish Justice Center named Sterling Williams was arrested, accused of aiding the inmates' escape.
Authorities allege that Williams shut off the water to a toilet that was covering a hole in a cell wall in order to aid in the escape of the inmates who squeezed through the gap.
According to an arrest affidavit obtained by the AP, Williams said one of the inmates who escaped had threatened to "shank" him if he didn't turn off the water. 'If the inmates removed the sink in the cell and disconnected the rest of the plumbing with the water still on, the plan to escape would not have been successful and potentially flooded the cell, drawing attention to their actions,' the affidavit said.
However, Williams's lawyer said he shut the water off in order to unclog a toilet, not to aid in the escape of the inmates, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday.
Additionally, before the jailbreak unfolded early Friday, another inmate apparently tried to take Williams's phone and tried to get him to bring a book with Cash App information.
Williams faces 10 counts of principle to simple escape and one count of malfeasance in office. He's being held on a $1.1 million bond set on Tuesday — $100,000 per count.
Hundreds of law enforcement officials at the federal, state and local levels are searching for the remaining inmates who are "considered to be armed and dangerous," Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said.
Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson had advised the public not to engage with the inmates or approach them.
FBI Special Agent Jonathan Trapp said he believes some members of the public are helping the inmates avoid authorities. The FBI increased the reward for information leading to the capture of the seven inmates, now offering $10,000 per inmate, up from $5,000 per inmate. Crime Stoppers and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are also each offering a $5,000 reward for each inmate. "It was a tip from the public that led FBI agents to one of the escaped inmates," the FBI in New Orleans said in a social media post. "We still need your help to locate the seven still on the run."
"The FBI will work together to ensure that those people helping these inmates evade recapture will be held accountable," Trapp said Sunday. "These inmates are accused of serious crimes, and until they are back in custody, we should all remain vigilant."
Several of the inmates are facing murder or attempted murder charges or other offenses, including burglary, illegal carrying of weapons and domestic abuse involving strangulation.
Hutson told reporters Friday that the inmates allegedly started pulling on a defective cell door to pull it off track around 12:23 a.m. Friday and were able to break open a door. "These are the cells that we keep telling we need to replace at great cost in this facility," Hutson said. "There was a corrections monitoring technician in the pod module to be watching that. They were still able to exit the jail about 1:01 a.m. after breaching a wall behind a toilet in the jail."
Hutson added they could be seen on video surveillance scaling a wall and running across the interstate.
Jail officials discovered the inmates were missing at 8:30 a.m. during a routine headcount Friday morning. The jail was immediately placed on lockdown.
Hutson called it a "very serious and unacceptable situation.'
The sheriff's office initially said 11 inmates had escaped. Hutson clarified at a Friday afternoon briefing that one man, Keith Lewis, had been moved to a different cell and was never on the run.
The following 10 inmates escaped: Antoine Massey, Lenton Vanburen, Leo Tate, Kendell Myles, Derrick Groves, Jermain Donald, Corey Boyd, Gary Price, Robert Moody and Dkenan Dennis.
Myles, Moody and Dennis were recaptured within hours of their escape. They were awaiting trial on various felony charges, according to the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office. This includes attempted murder, armed robberies, illegally carrying weapons and illegal drug possession offenses.
A fifth inmate, Corey Boyd, was recaptured on May 20 and taken into custody. The five recaptured inmates are being held at the maximum security Louisiana State Penitentiary, according to the state Department of Public Safety and Corrections.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said the recaptured inmates — and anyone who helped in their escape — will face new charges.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said during a Sunday news conference that the state attorney general's office will lead an investigation into the jailbreak, calling it the worst in recent state history. Landry also called for an audit of the sheriff's office as well as the Orleans Parish Justice Center.
"This massive jailbreak could be the largest jailbreak in the history of the state, and it never should have happened," Landry said. "The public deserves to know who, what and how this happened."
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