Seven people have been arrested, and five inmates remain at large after a Louisiana jailbreak last week.
CNN reports that Emmitt Weber, 28, is the latest person arrested in connection with the 10 inmates who escaped from a New Orleans jail. According to a Friday news release, Weber faces charges of accessory after the fact to simple escape.
Trevon Williams was also charged Friday. Williams, who was already in jail on unrelated charges, now faces an additional charge of principal to simple escape.
On Thursday, Casey Smith was arrested after being accused of helping two of the fugitives. “Smith admitted to her role in aiding the escapees’ transport along with Cortnie Harris,” New Orleans police said.
Harris, along with Corvanntay Baptiste, was arrested Wednesday. Baptiste allegedly communicated with one of the escapees through phone and social media. He also helped the inmate, Corey Boyd, get food.
Connie Weeden, 59, was arrested after investigators found she not only sent money to an escapee but also communicated with him while he was still incarcerated. She faces one felony count of accessory after the fact.
The first arrest in the case was Sterling Williams, a maintenance staff member at the jail. He is suspected of facilitating the escape by turning off the water to a cell where inmates had dismantled plumbing to flee. Williams faces 10 counts of principal to simple escape and one count of malfeasance in office.
More info here: pic.twitter.com/WUUuwHI1n0
— Attorney General Liz Murrill (@AGLizMurrill) May 23, 2025
Williams’s attorney told The New York Post that his client was simply doing his job. “This was clearly all part of an orchestrated plan,” Michael 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.”
Since the jailbreak, five escapees have been captured. As CrimeOnline previously reported, Robert Moody and DKenan Dennis were taken into custody. Moody was captured around 7:30 p.m. May 16 by Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies near Central City. Officers found Dennis the same day near Chef Menteur Highway and Dale Street in New Orleans East.
Another escapee, Kendall Myles, 20, was captured on the day of the escape. He was found hiding under a car in a parking garage at Hotel Monteleone.
Two more inmates were arrested earlier this week. Gary Price, 21, was taken into custody Monday, and Corey Boyd, 19, was arrested Tuesday, according to USA Today.
Five inmates remain on the run: Antoine Massey, Lenton Vanburen, Jermaine Donald, Leo Tate, and Derrick Groves, CNN reports.
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Massey, 32, is charged with domestic abuse battery involving strangulation and theft of a motor vehicle valued between $5,000 and $25,000.
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Vanburen, 26, is charged with battery of a correctional officer and a correctional facility employee.
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Donald, 42, faces charges of aggravated battery and obscenity.
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Tate, 31, is charged with possession of a firearm by a felon, simple burglary of an inhabited residence, illegal carrying of a weapon with CDS, and motor vehicle theft between $5,000 and $25,000, among other charges.
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Groves, 27, is charged with battery of a correctional facility employee.
In response to the escape, the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections is under audit by the Orleans Justice Center.
The audit will “concentrate on jail operations, such as overall jail security, jail staffing, and jail policy and procedures,” Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections Secretary Gary Westcott said in a news release Tuesday.
“It is critically important to get all fugitives back into custody. But it is equally important that we identify and hold accountable anyone who facilitated or assisted with this historic jailbreak,” the district attorney wrote.
The Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office is offering a monetary reward for information about the remaining suspects.
Tips can be submitted anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 504-822-1111 or online at crimestoppersgno.org.
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[Feature Photo:Louisiana state police enter a house on North Galvez street as they pursue a fugitive that escaped from a New Orleans jail, Tuesday, May 20, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)]
