Last of 10 New Orleans prison escapes in May captured in Georgia, authorities say

ATLANTA (AP) — Louisiana’s only escaped inmate who remained on the run after a daring escape in May in which 10 men crawled through a hole behind a toilet has been found in Atlanta, U.S. Marshals said Wednesday.

Derrick Groves was arrested at a home after evading authorities for nearly five months, Deputy U.S. Marshal Brian Fair confirmed. Sgt. Kate Stegall, a Louisiana State Police spokeswoman, also said Groves was in custody after a brief standoff.

Groves, 28, had been convicted of murder and was facing a life sentence before his escape. He had the most violent criminal record among the escapees, and authorities had offered a $50,000 reward for tips leading to his recapture.

“He was hiding in a crawl space,” Fair said. “It seems he was the only one in that house and he was pretty well hidden.”

Fair said law enforcement developed a lead on Groves’ whereabouts with the support of the anonymous tip program Crimestoppers and that the information originated in New Orleans.

No one else was arrested, Fair said. Groves was apprehended by the U.S. Marshals’ Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force and the Atlanta Police Department’s SWAT team, Fair said.

Groves was captured in a neighborhood just west of the sprawling Fort McPherson, a former U.S. Army base that housed Tyler Perry Studios, one of the largest film production facilities in the country.

Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry applauded law enforcement for putting the 10 escapees “where they belong: BEHIND BARS,” in an article on X.

The other nine escapees were recaptured within six weeks of their escape from the New Orleans prison on May 16, and most were still found in Louisiana.

Escapee’s mother reacts to his capture

“I’m completely messed up, I’m just trying to talk to him,” Groves’ mother, Stephanie Groves, told the Associated Press. “I just saw it on the Internet, I woke up to it on the Internet.”

Choking back tears, she said she was worried for her son’s safety and wanted him to surrender peacefully. She said she did not know why he went to Atlanta and had not been in contact with him after his escape. Her family was followed and monitored by law enforcement, she said.

“It’s just a disaster,” she said. “I’m just glad it’s over.”

“Of course he was going to get caught,” she added.

Jailbreaking in New Orleans

Groves and the nine other men opened the door to a faulty cell inside the New Orleans prison, slipped through a hole behind a toilet, scaled a barbed wire fence and fled into the darkness. With 10 men on the run, it was one of the largest escapes in recent U.S. history.

The absence of the detainees was only discovered after a morning count, a few hours after their escape to freedom. At the crime scene, the cell where the men removed a toilet to sneak through a hole, they left a message. On the wall of the cell, they drew an arrow pointing to the gap through which they slipped – above it was a graffiti message: “To Easy LoL.”

City and state officials have pointed to multiple security lapses at the prison, including ineffective cell locks and claims that inmates walked out when the only guard watching them went to get food. But authorities remain adamant that the men likely also received help and that their escape could be the result of an inside job.

A prison maintenance worker was arrested for allegedly helping the incarcerated men escape, by turning off the water to the toilet, where a hole had been dug behind it for the fugitives to escape. The man has denied knowingly helping them through his lawyer, who says he was simply unblocking a toilet. Another former prison employee, identified by authorities as Groves’ girlfriend, is accused of helping coordinate the escape.

Search for the fugitives

Hundreds of law enforcement officers scoured the city for the fugitives and mined phone records and hundreds of tips to quickly track some of them down.

At least 16 people, including many friends and family members of the escapees, were accused of helping the fugitives before or after the escape and were arrested on felony charges. Court documents allege these people provided food, money, transportation and shelter.

A fugitive reportedly hid in a vacant house his friend had been hired to repaint and was captured in Baton Rouge, more than 80 miles from New Orleans. Two more people were arrested after a high-speed car chase in Walker County, Texas. But most of the fugitives were found within the boundaries of Orleans Parish.

Antoine Massey, one of the last fugitives recaptured, is said to have published photos and videos on social networks while he was on the run.

Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson, who largely blamed the jail’s failing infrastructure for the escape, was widely criticized by state and local officials for her handling of the escape and management of the jail.

Escapees face additional charges

Many of the men were initially in the New Orleans jail, awaiting sentencing or trial for alleged violent crimes, including murder. Groves had been convicted of second-degree murder in 2024 for opening fire on a family-friendly block party on Mardi Gras, killing two people and injuring others. He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The other nine men accused of escaping from the city jail pleaded not guilty to escape charges in July, appearing via video call from the Louisiana State Penitentiary.

“Everyone has the right to due process. But there is video of these inmates walking out of the jail in the middle of the night. They were not showing up for court hearings,” said state Attorney General Liz Murrill.

Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams welcomed the end of the search and said prosecutors “will pursue all available legal avenues” against Groves.

All 10 men are charged with simple escape, which adds to the previous criminal charges that initially landed them in prison, according to Murrill’s office. The escape charge carries a sentence of two to five years in prison.

Groves’ attorney was present during the arraignment but did not enter a plea on his behalf, The New Orleans Advocate/The Times-Picayune reported.

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Brook reported from New Orleans. Associated Press writer Sara Cline in Baton Rouge, La., contributed.

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