Photo: Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office
The search continues for nine of the ten inmates that escaped from Orleans Parish Prison early Friday morning.
Sheriff Susan Hutson said a routine headcount led to the discovery of the escape. She put part of the blame on defective locks on cell doors that allowed the inmates to get into a cell and breach a wall behind a toilet.
"While the facility was placed on lockdown at 10:30 p.m. the night before the escape, the detainees were able to exit their cells due to defective locks and doors,' said the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office in a statement. "At approximately 12:23 a.m., the detainees began tampering with a locked cell door, ultimately breaking it open. A Correctional Monitoring Technician in the Control Module was present, but the detainees were able to breach a wall behind a toilet in their housing unit which was out of view."
Photo: Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office
"The detainees exited the jail through a door at approximately 1:01 a.m., scaling a wall and running across the interstate shortly after. Video surveillance confirms that they exited through a door in the docks where supplies are brought into the jail," the statement continued.
Hutson says there are also investigating whether the prisoners had help from someone inside the jail.
One inmate, Kendell Myles, was re-captured in part by using facial recognition technology from ProjectNOLA crime cameras. Myles was found hiding under a car in the Hotel Monteleone parking garage.
Another inmate, Keith Lewis, who was initially listed as part of the breakout, has since been accounted for inside the jail.
The escapees were identified by the Sherriff's Office as:
- Antoine Massey, domestic abuse and theft
- 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