OAN Staff Abril Elfi
10:30 AM – Friday, May 16, 2025
UPDATE 3:06 PM: Nine inmates are still on the run after 10 of them escaped a New Orleans jail early Friday.
Previous reports had stated that 11 inmates had originally escaped and two inmates had been recaptured. However, the statement has been retracted and updated to ten inmates escaping and only one being caught so far.
The initial eleventh inmate, Keith Lewis, was initially reported as escaped in an error. Sheriff Susan Hutson says he was moved within the facility and was later accounted for.
Fox 8 obtained and shared a photo of a hole in the wall of the jail where the inmates reportedly escaped. Scribbled around the hole are messages including “To (sic) Easy LOL,” “Catch us when you can,” “We Innocent,” “Most Hated 9,” and profanity.
According to Hutson, the escape by the inmates would have been “impossible without help.” Authorities are launching an investigation into the escape, suggesting that it might have been a possible inside job.
Huston said video surveillance shows them exiting through a door in the docks where supplies are delivered into the jail.
Hutson believes those who escaped received assistance from members of the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office. She stated that the inmates would have needed a tool that they did not have access to in order to make the hole in the cell’s wall.
The charges of the inmates range from illegal weapons possession to murder, according to court documents. They are to be considered armed and dangerous.
The suspects were identified as:
- Antoine Massey, domestic abuse, theft, kidnapping, rape
- Lenton Venburen, illegal carrying of weapon
- Leo Tate, burglary, illegal carrying of weapon
- Kendell Myles, intentional concealment of weapon
- Derrick Groves, murder, attempted murder
- Jermaine Donald, murder, aggravated battery
- Corey Boyd, murder, attempted murder, aggravated battery
- Gary Price, three counts of attempted murder
- Robert Moody
- Dkenan Dennis
10:30 AM – A major manhunt was initiated in the state of Louisiana after 11 inmates initially escaped from the Orleans Parish Jail. However, two of the 11 have now been caught — making it nine escaped inmates on the run.
The Orleans Justice Center was placed on lockdown on Friday following news that 11 inmates had escaped.
The tenth and eleventh prisoner have since been apprehended by the authorities.
According to NewsNation affiliate WGNO, the detainees were discovered missing during a headcount at around 8:30 a.m. local time.
The Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office and other state law enforcement agencies were still searching for the following inmates:
- Antoine Massey
- Lenton Vanburen
- Jermaine Donald
- Leo Tate
- Kendell Myles
- Derrick Groves
- Corey Boyd
- Gary Price
- Robert Moody
- Decannon Dennis
- Keith Lewis
As of 11:30 a.m., 20-year-old Myles and another escapee, whose identity has not yet been released, had been captured by the local Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff Susan Hutson asked the public to remain alert, noting that the Sheriff’s Department is currently working with local, state, and federal law enforcement — on a “full-scale search operation.”
New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick told reporters that it is “more than likely” the inmates were assisted somehow, as they had changed out of their jail clothes before breaking out and going on the run.
“We don’t want panic, but we do want people to be mindful,” she told reporters.
The Sheriff labeled the recent escape as a “very serious and unacceptable” scenario.
“We are launching a full investigation to determine how this escape occurred, including reviewing facility protocols, staff performance and physical security measures,” she said.
Meanwhile, Hutson has pledged that anyone who assisted in the inmates’ escape will be held accountable. The jail remains on full lockdown while headcounts and internal security reviews continue.
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