A massive manhunt is underway after ten inmates escaped from the Orleans Justice Center early Friday morning, with seven still on the run, including three men charged with murder. The brazen escape, which authorities believe may have involved help from inside the jail, has rocked the city’s criminal justice system and raised serious questions about security protocols at the facility.
Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson confirmed the escape was discovered during a routine headcount at 8:30 a.m., prompting an immediate full lockdown of the jail. One inmate, Kendell Myles, was quickly recaptured in a French Quarter parking garage later that day. He was reportedly identified using facial recognition technology via a Project NOLA surveillance camera.
The escapees — identified as Antoine Massey, Lenton Venburen, Leo Tate, Derrick Groves, Jermaine Donald, Corey Boyd, Gary Price, Robert Moody, and Dkenan Dennis — are considered armed and dangerous. Groves, Donald, and Boyd face murder charges, with Groves already convicted on multiple counts of second-degree murder stemming from a 2018 Mardi Gras shooting.
A shocking photo obtained by local outlet WVUE reveals the hole in the jail wall that inmates used to escape. Graffiti scrawled around the breach includes mocking phrases like “To Easy LOL,” “Catch us when you can,” and “We innocent,” suggesting the escape was both planned and executed with confidence.
Attorney General Liz Murrill did not mince words in her response. “Someone clearly dropped the ball and there’s no excuse for this,” she said in a statement, echoing public frustration as questions mount over how the jailbreak could have occurred undetected for hours.
Sheriff Hutson revealed that faulty locks on cell doors may have played a role, and that a jail monitor was present in the pod where the inmates pried open a door before breaching a wall behind a toilet around 1 a.m. The group reportedly exited through a supply door, scaled a wall, and made their way across Interstate 10.
Hutson also said authorities are investigating possible internal involvement, suggesting some of the escapees may have had assistance from individuals within the sheriff’s office. An internal probe is underway alongside the broader investigation into the escape.
Federal agencies, including the FBI and U.S. Marshals Service, have joined local and state law enforcement in the search. As the investigation unfolds, pressure continues to mount on jail leadership to explain how such a critical security failure was allowed to happen.
