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.

https://usaherald.com/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:

1. Corey Boyd – Aggravated assault with a firearm
2. Jermaine Donald – Armed robbery
3. Derrick Groves – Second-degree murder (DA Jason Williams had prosecuted him)
4. Antoine Massey – Illegal firearm possession
5. Leo Tate – False imprisonment with a weapon
6. 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.

Williams also raised serious concerns about the facility's readiness: “It’s unacceptable for this to go unnoticed for nearly nine hours. This is a serious breach.”

The State Attorney General’s office announced the arrest of an Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office employee.

Sterling Williams, 33, a maintenance worker with the sheriff’s office, told investigators he had turned the water off in the cell from which the inmates escaped.

One of the escapees directed Williams to turn the water off inside that cell, threatening to “shank him if he did not,” he told investigators. Instead of reporting the inmate, Williams turned the water off as directed, allowing for the successful escape.

He was placed under arrest and booked into the Orleans Parish Jail. Then he was relocated to a different facility.

The Plaquemines Parish Jail showed Williams under arrest Tuesday morning. He faces 10 counts related to the escapees and one count of malfeasance in office, because he “acted under the order of an inmate,” his arrest warrant states.

“This was a coordinated effort, aided by individuals inside our own agency, who made the choice to break the law,” Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson said Tuesday at a meeting of the New Orleans city council’s criminal justice committee. Hutson noted the agency continues “to pursue everyone involved.”

🔍 Multistate Manhunt Intensifies

• Over 200 law enforcement officers are involved in the search, including the Louisiana State Police, the FBI, and the U.S. Marshals.
• Rewards: $10,000 from the FBI and $5,000 each from Crime Stoppers and ATF are being offered for information leading to each fugitive’s capture.
• Surveillance teams are checking bus stations, airports, and known associates.

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🏚 Jail Conditions Under Scrutiny

Sheriff Hutson acknowledged the outdated and dangerous conditions at the facility. She has requested over $5.2 million to fix broken locks and other infrastructure failures. Staffing is also a problem, with only 60% of positions currently filled.

Chief of Corrections Jay Mallett stated that the jail was not built to hold violent offenders. “It’s a minimum custody facility. These were high-security inmates. That’s a mismatch.”

📲 Tips and Public Help

Anyone with information about the escapees’ whereabouts is urged to call the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office or Crime Stoppers at 504-822-1111. Please do not approach them. All the escapees are considered armed and dangerous. 

Read more about the multistate manhunt from CNN, AP News, and Louisiana State Police.