Two Louisiana inmates are still on the run after a possibly bad-scale escape from the Orleans Justice Center in New Orleans on May 16, 2025. They have been identified as Derrick Groves and Antoine Massey out of the 10 people who escaped from that facility. Eight of them have since been captured all over Louisiana and Texas, while the manhunt continues for these Louisiana inmates, raising very serious questions about jail security and public safety.
Orleans Justice Center Jailbreak
The escapade was in the wee hours of May 16 when 10 Louisiana inmates took advantage of a faulty cell lock and a hole that had opened in the back wall of their cell behind a toilet. They worked their way out through a supply dock, out a door, over a perimeter wall, and trotted into a neighboring suburb across Interstate 10.
Authorities did not realize there was an escape until about 8:30 AM during a routine headcount, nearly seven hours after the fact. Surveillance video showed the fugitives making their escape, with one frame even showing a heckling message, “Too easy lol,” scrawled above the bolt hole.
The Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office is fully investigating the incident and reviewing protocols and security measures of the facility. More detailed information about the escape and the timeline can be read in this AP News article.
Pursuit of Fugitive Louisiana Inmates
Since that first jailbreak, law enforcement agencies have been busy redeploying efforts to bring most of the escapees back into custody. The most recent arrests include Lenton Vanburen, taken in Baton Rouge; and Leo Tate and Jermaine Donald, picked up in Walker County, Texas, after a high-speed car chase.
It seems that the recaptures are not taking place in a vacuum. Other arrests, over a dozen supposedly, of those accused of helping the escapees either before or after their flight, are alleged to have taken place. Among those arrested are a maintenance worker at the prison, who allegedly loosened plumbing to aid in the escape, and some others who were assisting.
NPR reports on the arrests of those alleged to have assisted the fugitives. Some unusual occurrences concerning this particular escape have been weighed against other high-profile incidents in incarceration, like the so-called Tory Lanez Prison Attack: What We Know.
Public Safety and Current Efforts
Currently, Groves and Massey are a threat to public safety, and, at first glance, they do not seem to have been there: the criminal records prove. Groves was convicted of second-degree murder, while Massey is said to have been charged with assault with a domestic violence designation. The police agencies solicit public notice for possible sightings and any information concerning their whereabouts.
This has, however, for whatever reason, been the greater fear for prison managers, who are often meddled with by the federal authority. It’s a fugitive pursuit for the safe return in custody of those two remaining Louisiana inmates, by articles like Congresswoman LaMonica McIver Faces Assault Charges.
