The New Orleans prison escape of 10 inmates from the Orleans Parish Justice Center has triggered a multistate manhunt across Louisiana and beyond.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill has asked her counterparts in Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Tennessee to alert their law enforcement agencies in case some of the escapees have crossed state lines.
Here’s a detailed timeline of how the jailbreak unfolded and the authorities’ ongoing efforts to recapture the fugitives.
📅 Timeline of the Escape and Response
🕛 Thursday, May 15 – Evening
- Inmates in Cell Delta 1006 begin manipulating a faulty cell door.
- A hole is carved behind a toilet, leading to a crawl space and then outside.
🕐 Friday, May 16 – 12:30 a.m.
- 10 inmates flee through the hole.
- They scale a barbed wire fence using blankets, run across I-10, and shed prison uniforms in a nearby neighborhood.
🕗 Friday, May 16 – 8:30 a.m.
- Jail staff conduct a headcount and discover 10 inmates are missing.
- Sheriff’s Office begins internal review and surveillance video review.
🕐 Friday, May 16 – 1:30 p.m.
- Authorities issue a public statement confirming the escape.
- Fugitive task forces and local police join the search.
🕓 Saturday, May 17 – Evening
- Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson confirmed at a press conference that 10 inmates escaped.
- She admits the escape was not noticed for hours due to a lapse in supervision and broken infrastructure.
🕖 Sunday, May 18 – Morning
- Two inmates, Dkenan Dennis and Kendell Myles, are recaptured.
🕚 Monday, May 19 – Late Night
- Two more escapees, Robert Moody and Gary Price, are apprehended in New Orleans.
🕚 Tuesday, May 20 –Morning
- Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office employee Sterling Williams was arrested.
Prison Escape in New Orleans: How 10 Inmates Broke Out Through a Hole in the Jail Wall
👮 Multistate Manhunt for Inmates Still at Large
The six fugitives still missing are:
- Corey Boyd – Aggravated assault with a firearm
- Jermaine Donald – Armed robbery
- Derrick Groves – Second-degree murder (DA Jason Williams had prosecuted him)
- Antoine Massey – Illegal firearm possession
- Leo Tate – False imprisonment with a weapon
- Lenton Vanburen – Aggravated assault
🚨 Public Safety Concerns and Employee Arrest
District Attorney Jason Williams criticized the Sheriff’s Office for the delayed public alert, saying the community should have been notified immediately after the escape. “These people are dangerous,” he stated, adding that some lawyers who had previously prosecuted or defended the men fled town with their families.
