Nearly a dozen inmates — all considered to be armed and dangerous — escaped from a jail in the city of New Orleans and it is believed they received help with their escape from members of the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office, according to Sheriff Susan Hutson.
Louisiana State Police said on Facebook that one of the inmates, identified as Kendall Myles, was apprehended in the French Quarter using intelligence technology.
It was discovered that the inmates, all men, were missing during a routine headcount at the Orleans Parish Jail on Friday morning, the sheriff's office said.
Authorities first noticed the 10 inmates were missing during a Friday morning headcount. Authorities initially said a total of 11 inmates had escaped but at a Friday afternoon news conference said one inmate thought to have escaped was in a different cell.
The escapees range from 19 years old to 42. Most of the men are in their 20s.
One of the fugitive inmates, Derrick Groves was convicted on two charges of second-degree murder and two charges of attempted second-degree murder last year for his role in the 2018 Mardi Gras Day shootings of two men. Groves also left two other injured people “physically and emotionally scarred" from the shooting, according to the Orleans Parish District Attorney's office, which described him as a “heinous criminal” in a news release.
Groves currently faces a charge of battery against a correctional facility employee, court records show.
Another escaped inmate, Corey Boyd had pled not guilty to a pending second-degree murder charge.
Hutson said they have launched a full-scale search for the missing individuals involving federal, state and other local law enforcement agencies.
Hutson urged citizens not to approach an individual if they are spotted and to instead immediately contact law enforcement.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill called the escape “beyond unacceptable" and said local authorities had waited too long to inform the public.
“Someone clearly dropped the ball and there’s no excuse for this," Murrill said in an emailed statement. “My office will do whatever it takes to determine how this happened and make sure that it won’t happen again.”
