See how New Orleans inmates escaped jail

The last of the 10 inmates accused of escaping from a New Orleans city jail earlier this year by climbing through a hole behind a toilet has been captured, officials said.

Derrick Groves, a convicted murderer, was taken back into custody on Oct. 8 in Atlanta, Georgia, nearly five months after his escape from the Orleans Parish Prison, the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office and district attorney's office said in a statement. Groves was captured following a standoff at a residence in southwest Atlanta, officials said.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry celebrated Groves' capture in post on X, thanking the federal, state and local law enforcement officials "who worked tirelessly to put each of these men back where they belong: BEHIND BARS."

“Let me be very clear: when someone escapes our custody, we will not stop until they are found,” Sheriff Susan Hutson said in a statement.

“For nearly five months, law enforcement across multiple states worked tirelessly to bring Groves back into custody. I want to thank the Atlanta Police Department, the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Marshals Service, and our own OPSO Fugitive Apprehension Team for their relentless pursuit and commitment to public safety,” Hutson said.

Groves was one of 10 men who escaped from the jail in the early hours of May 16, breaching a cell wall and using a blind spot to flee undetected. The jailbreak was one of the largest and most brazen in recent U.S. history, prompting a massive manhunt that spanned multiple states and sparked immediate scrutiny over the prison's security vulnerabilities.

Three men were recaptured within hours, and six more were caught in the weeks after the escape, including two who were found more than 300 miles away in Huntsville, Texas. The men, who initially faced criminal charges including murder, aggravated assault and domestic abuse, were charged with simple escape in July. An attorney for Groves was present at the hearing but did not enter a plea on his behalf, according to The Times-Picayune/NOLA.com.

Groves will now face extradition proceedings to return to New Orleans, according to the sheriff's office.

"We will pursue every available legal avenue to ensure that Derrick Groves answers for every crime he has committed and every consequence he has sought to avoid," District Attorney Jason Williams said in a statement.

Who is Derrick Groves?

Groves, 28, was convicted of two charges of second-degree murder and two charges of attempted second-degree murder in 2024 in connection with a shooting during Mardi Gras in 2018, according to a statement from the district attorney’s office. Groves allegedly “brazenly boasted about the violence” and took credit for the killings on social media, the news release said.

The shooting sparked a yearslong legal drama, officials said. Groves was initially convicted in 2019 alongside a co-defendant, but he had to be retried in January 2023 after the passage of a state law on jury verdicts. The re-trial ended in a mistrial after a juror read media accounts of the case, and a second retrial in June 2023 ended in a deadlocked jury, according to the district attorney.

Groves has also been awaiting sentencing on a manslaughter charge since October 2024, according to a news release from the governor’s office. He also faces a charge of battery against a correctional facility employee, the Associated Press previously reported, citing court records.

How did the inmates escape?

The inmates escaped by ripping away a toilet and sink unit and climbing through the hole in the wall, according to authorities. They fled from the building through a loading dock door.

The group then moved along a secure perimeter road between the jail and a building under construction, authorities said. After scaling a barbed wire fence, surveillance footage captured the men running across Interstate 10 and disappearing into a nearby neighborhood, where investigators later found discarded prison clothing.

The escape went unnoticed for more than seven hours after authorities discovered the men were missing from a morning headcount. Authorities found several taunting phrases and doodles scrawled on the wall above the hole, including "To [sic] easy lol" and "Catch us when you can."

Groves' girlfriend among more than a dozen arrested for aiding escapees

Since the jailbreak, at least 16 people have been arrested for aiding the escapees. Most of the alleged accomplices are related to the escapees, according to authorities, but jail maintenance worker Sterling Williams, 33, was also arrested and charged with being a principal to simple escape and malfeasance in office.

Attorney General Liz Murrill previously said Williams admitted that he complied with a demand from one of the inmates to shut off the water to a cell, which allowed the escapees to remove the toilet and sink unit. His lawyer said he did so because of a clogged toilet, not to aid in the escape.

Darriana Burton, a former Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office's employee who is believed to be Groves' girlfriend, was also arrested for allegedly aiding in his escape.

How police caught the last New Orleans escapee

Officials offered up to $50,000 for information leading to the capture of Groves and Antoine Massey, who was recaptured in June.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Brian Fair told the Associated Press an anonymous tip submitted to Crimestoppers that originated out of New Orleans led law enforcement to Groves.

“He was hiding in a crawl space,” Fair told the outlet. “It appears he was the only one in this house and he was hidden pretty well.”

Contributing: Thao Nguyen, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Derrick Groves, final escapee from New Orleans jailbreak, captured in Atlanta

Reporting by N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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