CCTV footage of the inmates escaping | |
| Date | May 16, 2025, manhunt has ended after the capture of Groves |
|---|---|
| Time | 12:23 a.m. CDT (The time they escaped) 1:01 a.m. CDT (CDT) |
| Location | Orleans Parish Prison, New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Type | Jail escape, manhunt |
| Participants | At least 10 (escapees potentially had help from jail employees) |
| Outcome | All escapees captured |
| Accused | 16 (1 jail employee, 1 jail inmate, 14 acquaintances) [a] |
On May 16, 2025, ten inmates of the Orleans Parish Prison, located in New Orleans, Louisiana, escaped through a hole in the wall behind a toilet. Six of the ten inmates were charged with murder or attempted murder, and all inmates have since been recaptured as of October 8. [6] Nine of the inmates are pre-trial.
At 12:23 a.m., inmates at the Orleans Parish Prison, who managed to escape their cells due to some faulty locks, began tampering with a locked sliding cell door for about 20 minutes before pulling it off its tracks and gaining entry into the cell. Once inside, the group ripped off a toilet and sink unit in the cell, and cut off horizontal bars from a hole behind the toilet that was used to connect pipes. [7] By doing this, they were successfully able to escape. Above the hole where the inmates escaped from, the inmates scribbled graffiti and various obscene messages, among them "To Easy LoL" and "We Innocent." [8] Authorities stated the guard assigned with watching their cell pod was away getting food at the time of the escape. [9]
After squeezing through the hole, the group fled through a loading dock, scaled a wall, and then ran across the Interstate 10 highway. [10] By 1:30 a.m., the group was outside the jail. [9] At 8:30 a.m., roughly seven hours after the escape, the inmates were discovered missing during a routine head count. [11]
Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson noted that there was a chance that someone who worked at the jail had helped the men escape, saying “It’s almost impossible, not completely, but almost impossible for anybody to get out of this facility without help". [9] A jail employee who was monitoring surveillance had reportedly witnessed the escape but did not report it to deputies. Three employees at the jail have been suspended without pay while officials investigate. [11]
Prison officials early on suspected the escapees had inside help to escape. On May 20, 2025, a jail maintenance worker was arrested and accused of turning off the water in certain cells in order to aid the escapees in removing the toilet. Three additional jail employees were suspended without pay pending the outcome of the investigation. [1] [12] On May 21, 2025, two women were arrested for aiding the escapees and charged with being accessories after the fact. At least one of the women was in communication with an escapee prior to the escape. [2] Late on May 22, 2025, another woman was arrested for being an accomplice. [3] As of Friday, May 23, 2025, seven people had been arrested for aiding the escapees: one jail employee, one jail inmate, and five acquaintances. [4] On the weekend of May 24–25, 2025, four people who were family or acquaintances of escapee Lenton Vanburen were arrested for assisting him. [5]
Three of the men were captured on May 16, 2025, and were taken to the Louisiana State Penitentiary via helicopter. [9] Price was captured on May 19, 2025, [13] [14] and Boyd was captured a day later. [15] Vanburen was captured on May 26, 2025, in Baton Rouge. [16] Tate and Donald were also captured on May 26 in Walker County, Texas. [17] [18]
Louisiana State Police said in a statement that one of the inmates, Kendall Myles, was found under a car at a hotel garage in the French Quarter. [9] This was the fourth time Massey had escaped from a jail. He is also ineligible for ankle monitoring because he kept cutting them off. [19] Massey was captured on June 27, 2025. [20]
The final inmate, Derrick Groves, was captured on October 8, nearly 5 months after the escape, in Atlanta, Georgia. [21]
In total, 26 individuals were charged with crimes related to the escape. In addition to the 10 inmates, 16 accessories were charged with assisting the escapees. Many of the accessories were either employees of the prison or relatives of the inmates.
The escapees' ages ranged from 20 to 43. Several have been charged with murder. Others were charged with aggravated assault with a firearm, false imprisonment with a weapon, armed robbery with a firearm, and domestic abuse. [22]
The apprehended escapees are: [b]
| Name (age) | Date apprehended | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Derrick Groves (28) | October 8, 2025 | Convicted of second-degree murder |
| Antoine Massey (33) | June 27, 2025 | Charged with domestic abuse involving strangulation, along with automotive theft |
| Jermaine Donald (43) | May 26, 2025 | Charged with second-degree murder, aggravated battery, and illegal possession of a firearm |
| Leo Tate (32) | May 26, 2025 | Charged with second-degree murder |
| Lenton Vanburen (27) | May 26, 2025 | Charged with second-degree murder |
| Corey Boyd (20) | May 20, 2025 | Charged with second-degree murder |
| Gary Price (21) | May 19, 2025 | Charged with attempted first-degree murder, simple assault, criminal damage, domestic abuse, battery, and assault with a weapon |
| Dkenan Dennis (24) | May 16, 2025 | Charged with armed robbery with a firearm and illegal carrying of a weapon during a crime of violence |
| Robert Moody (22) | May 16, 2025 | Charged with attempted second-degree battery and obstruction |
| Kendall Myles (21) | May 16, 2025 | Charged with intention to conceal a weapon, introducing contraband into a prison, and possession of contraband |
People charged with assisting the escapees (before or after):
| Name (age) | Date apprehended | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Darriana Burton [25] | June 9, 2025 | Accused of assisting her boyfriend, Derrick Groves |
| James Randolph [26] | May 28, 2025 | Accused of assisting his cousin, Lenton Vanburen, acquire a hotel room |
| Vi Duc Nguyen [26] | May 28, 2025 | Accused of paying for the Baton Rouge hotel room where Lenton Vanburen was arrested in |
| Lenton Vanburen Sr. (48) [27] | May 27, 2025 | Father of Lenton Vanburen |
| Lenika Vanburen (28) [27] | May 27, 2025 | Relative of Lenton Vanburen |
| Patricia Vanburen (18) [27] | May 27, 2025 | Relative of Lenton Vanburen |
| Tyshanea Randolph (27) [27] | May 27, 2025 | Charged with assisting Lenton Vanburen |
| Angel McKay (41) [27] | May 27, 2025 | Charged with assisting Lenton Vanburen |
| Diamond White (21) [27] | May 27, 2025 | Charged with "principal to aggravated escape" for the assistance of Antoine Massey |
| Trevon Williams [28] | Already in custody (Charged May 24, 2025) | Charged with ten counts of simple escape |
| Emmitt Weber [29] | May 23, 2025 | Charged with assisting two unnamed escapees |
| Casey Smith (30) [30] | May 22, 2025 | Admitted her involvement to the arresting officers |
| Cortnie Harris (32) [31] | May 21, 2025 | Accused of being in phone contact with one of the escapees and driving two others around the city to various locations |
| Corvanntay Baptiste (38) [31] | May 21, 2025 | Charged with accessory after the fact to simple escape |
| Connie Weeden (59) [32] | May 20, 2025 | Charged with assisting grandson Jermaine Donald |
| Sterling Williams (33) [1] | May 19, 2025 | Jail plumber, charged with turning off water to the cell toilet which was used by the ten inmates to escape |
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