The only escaped Louisiana inmate who remained on the run following a New Orleans jailbreak that saw 10 men escape in May has been found in Atlanta, the U.S. Marshals said Wednesday.
Derrick Groves, 28, was taken into custody after evading authorities for nearly five months, Deputy U.S. Marshal Brian Fair confirmed. Sgt. Kate Stegall, a spokesperson for the Louisiana State Police, also said he was in custody after a brief standoff.
“Through a coordinated effort involving Crimestoppers Greater New Orleans, the United States Marshals Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, Louisiana State Police, the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, the New Orleans Police Department, the Atlanta Police Department, and other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, 28-year-old Derrick Groves, was apprehended on Wednesday, October 8, 2025, in Atlanta, Georgia after a brief stand-off,” Louisiana State Police confirmed in a Facebook post.
“Groves was one of ten inmates who escaped from the Orleans Parish Prison on May 16, 2025, prompting a multi-agency manhunt. Since his escape, law enforcement agencies have worked together to locate and apprehend him.”
Groves was convicted on two charges of second-degree murder and two charges of attempted second-degree murder and was facing a possible life sentence before the jailbreak. He had the most violent criminal record of the escapees and authorities had offered a US$50,000 reward for tips that led to his recapture.
“He was hiding in a crawl space,” Fair said. “It appears he was the only one in this house and he was hidden pretty well.”
Groves was arrested by the U.S. Marshals southeast regional fugitive task force and the Atlanta Police Department SWAT team, Fair added.
The other nine escapees were recaptured within six weeks of breaking out of the New Orleans jail on May 16, and most were found still in Louisiana.
Louisiana State Police were searching for the Orleans Parish Prison escapees in May.
Louisiana State Police / Facebook
The inmates escaped from the Orleans Parish jail, a correctional facility where 1,400 people are being held, while the lone guard watching them went to get food.
The Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office said at least one of the steel bars protecting plumbing fixtures “appeared to have been intentionally cut using a tool.”
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On the cell wall, they drew an arrow, pointing at the gap they slipped through — above it was a graffiti message: “To Easy LoL.”
Prisoners at the Orleans Parish jail escaped through the wall behind a toilet.
Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office
After exiting through the hole behind the toilet, the inmates scaled a barbed wire fence, quickly shed their uniforms, changed into regular clothes and fled into the dark.
The absence of the inmates was not reported until a routine morning headcount — more than seven hours later. Many of those inmates, ranging in age from 19 to 42, have been charged with or convicted of violent offences such as murder.
Authorities remain adamant that the men also had likely had help and that the escape may have been an inside job.
A maintenance worker at the jail was arrested in May after authorities said he helped facilitate the escape.
Sterling Williams is accused of cutting off the water so the inmates could pull the toilet from the wall, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a press release.
Williams’ lawyer claimed that the inmates clogged a toilet to shut the water off so that they could escape through a hole behind it. Williams did not know about the plan and did not allow the inmates to cut a pipe behind the toilet to create an opening for their escape, lawyer Michael Kennedy told The Associated Press.
Authorities have said an inmate instructed Williams to turn off the water to a toilet. Kennedy said that after a deputy called Williams to fix a toilet, he found it overflowing.
“This was clearly all part of an orchestrated plan,” Kennedy said. Williams “was nothing more than the tool they used to turn off the water, which they knew would have to happen after clogging the toilet.”
According to an arrest affidavit that made no mention of a clogged toilet, Williams was “initially very evasive and untruthful” during an interview, but ultimately told investigators that an inmate had threatened to “shank” him if he did not turn off the water.
Authorities have said that Williams could have reported the threat and escape plan. They asserted that because Williams turned the water off, the inmates were “able to successfully make good” on their escape, the affidavit said.
The nine other men accused of breaking out of the city jail pleaded not guilty to escape charges in July, appearing via video call from the Louisiana State Penitentiary.
“Everyone is entitled to due process. But there’s a video of these detainees running out of the jail in the middle of the night. They were not heading to court hearings,” state Attorney General Liz Murrill said. “We will continue to hold everyone accountable for the escape.”
All 10 men are charged with simple escape, which is tacked on top of previous criminal counts that initially landed them in jail, according to Murrill’s office. The escape charge carries a sentence of two to five years in prison.
— With files from The Associated Press
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