Among the fugitive prisoners still missing following a bold breach reminiscent of “The Shawshank Redemption”, a convicted killer Ten inmates discreetly leaving the Orleans Justice Centre in New Orleans, Louisiana, yesterday (May 16) may be seen on surveillance camera.
Dkenan Dennis, Robert Moody, and Kendell Myles three of the escapees have already been taken back under custody. Still at large, though, are Derrick Groves, a convicted double killer, and 19-year-old Corey Boyd, who is still awaiting trial on his second-degree murder allegation.
Credit: Facebook/Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office
Groves, twenty-seven-year-old, was found guilty of second-degree murder in relation to the untimely deaths of Jamar Robinson and Byron Jackson, who were sadly slain during Mardi Gras Day in 2018.
Following his retrial last year, where the jury found him unanimously guilty and sentenced him to life in prison, FBI Special Agent in Charge Lyonel Myrthil made a startling comment about Groves.
He said, “There was no question in the minds of everybody engaged in this case that Groves would have resumed his violent conduct on the streets of New Orleans if he had not been caught. Along with the life term he got, this guilty conviction should help law enforcement in the community rebuild confidence and optimism.
The escape
Prison officials didn’t know for seven hours that the infamous prisoners had broken out from their captivity. According to surveillance footage, the breakout started at 12:22 AM as multiple inmates were seen opening the sliding door to a cell. Before they were able to enter the cell, their attempts lasted for twenty-one minutes. During this period the lone jail guard is thought to have left to get some lunch.
Once within the cell at 12:43 AM, the prisoners took down the toilet from the wall, evoking images from the hit TV show “Prision Break”. They left an erratic three-word statement behind the toilet that was photographed.
Defying convention, the escapees graffiti-tagged the wall with the cheeky “Too easy LOL,” accentuated by an arrow pointing downward, parodying the seeming simplicity of their escape.
Credit: Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office
A thorough post on Facebook by the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office claims that the escape happened exactly at 1:00 a.m. Cleverly negotiating their way out of the loading dock entrance next to their pod, the prisoners made their way along a guarded perimeter road headed toward the under-construction Phase III complex.
Their bold activities were observed at 1:19 a.m. as they were seen climbing a barrier separating the Phase III facility from the Orleans Justice Center. They cleverly covered themselves from the dangerous barbed wire running around the top of the fence using blankets.
Once on the opposite side, they slid into a neighboring area across both sides of the crowded I-10 freeway. Investigators from the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office later found trash thought to have belonged to the escapees, which begged concerns about their location and future actions.