A prisoner convicted of murder is among those who remain on the loose after escaping from prison in a manner reminiscent of the movie The Shawshank Redemption.
Security cameras captured the moment when 10 inmates made their escape from the Orleans Justice Centre in New Orleans, Louisiana, yesterday (May 16).
Authorities have managed to recapture three of the escapees: Dkenan Dennis, Robert Moody, and Kendell Myles. However, Derrick Groves, a convicted double murderer, along with 19-year-old Corey Boyd, who is facing a second-degree murder charge, are still on the run.
Groves, aged 27, was convicted of the second-degree murders of Jamar Robinson and Byron Jackson, who lost their lives during Mardi Gras Day celebrations in 2018.
Following Groves’ retrial last year, where a jury unanimously found him guilty, FBI Special Agent in Charge Lyonel Myrthil expressed grave concerns.
He remarked, “There was no doubt in the minds of anyone involved in this case that Groves would continue his bloody rampage on the streets of New Orleans if he weren’t stopped. We hope this guilty verdict and the life sentence that accompanies it will give the community renewed confidence and hope in law enforcement.”
It was over seven hours before prison staff realized that the inmates had escaped, with security footage documenting the start of the breakout from within the cell block at 12:22 a.m.
During that time, several prisoners were seen prying open the sliding door to a cell, a process that continued for 21 minutes until they gained entry. It is believed the sole guard was away retrieving food.
Entering the cell at 12:43 a.m., the inmates removed the toilet from the wall, reminiscent of the TV series Prison Break, leaving behind a taunting message behind the toilet.
The message, mocking the authorities, read ‘To easy LOL’ with an arrow pointing down.
The Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office took to Facebook to describe the escape: “At 1:00 a.m., they exited the loading dock door adjacent to the pod and moved down a secure perimeter road toward the under-construction Phase III facility. At 1:19 a.m., they were seen scaling a fence between the OJC and Phase III using blankets to avoid injury from the barbed wire. From there, they fled across both directions of I-10 and into a nearby neighborhood, where OPSO investigators later recovered discarded clothing believed to belong to the escapees.”