After four days on the run, a fifth man who escaped the Orleans Parish jail last Friday along with nine others has been captured, authorities said.
Corey Boyd, 19, who is accused of a 2024 murder during a car burglary, was taken into custody in New Orleans Tuesday.
“Boyd will ultimately be transported to a secure state facility outside of the area and booked for Simple Escape,” state police said in a Facebook post.
Authorities said Boyd was spotted last Friday on a French Quarter surveillance camera just hours after the jailbreak.
According to NOLA.com, Boyd is accused of killing Brandon Fees, a witness who saw him and others attempting to break into a car in April 2024. He allegedly ran over Fees with a vehicle before an accomplice shot Fees in the head.
Boyd was booked into the Orleans Parish Justice Center in May 2024 and later charged with second-degree murder, obstruction of justice, and threatening a police officer, according to a press release from the governor’s office.
News of his capture came less than a day after state police apprehended another escapee, 21-year-old Gary Price, in New Orleans on Monday. Price, who now faces charges of simple escape and possession of a Schedule II substance, was also transported to a secure facility outside the area. Price had been held at the Orleans Justice Center on charges of attempted first-degree murder, domestic abuse, and aggravated assault.
Authorities also arrested a 33-year-old maintenance worker in connection with the escape.
What we know so far
Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson said 10 men escaped from the facility early Friday morning by pulling a defective cell door off its tracks and climbing through a hole behind a toilet. Surveillance video showed them leaving the facility through a loading dock.
Three sheriff's office staffers were suspended without pay. Sterling Williams, a 33-year-old maintenance worker at the jail was arrested. Authorities said he admitted to turning off the water in a cell before the men escaped through the hole. Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry directed the Department of Corrections to audit the Orleans Parish Correctional Facility for compliance with basic jail guidelines and to remove everyone incarcerated there from the facility.
Three escapees — Kendell Myles, Robert Moody and Dkenan Dennis — were captured Friday, and charged with simple escape, the sheriff’s office said. The men had been awaiting trial on various felony charges, including attempted murder, armed robberies, aggravated assault, battery, extortion, illegally carrying weapons and illegal drug possession offenses.
Five other men — Leo Tate, Jermaine Donald, Derrick Groves, Lenton Vanburen and Antoine Massey — remain at large.
More than 200 law enforcement officers from local, state and federal agencies are currently searching for them.
The FBI is offering a $10,000 reward per inmate for information that leads to an arrest, while the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is offering $5,000 for each one. Crime Stoppers is offering another $5,000 per escapee.
Who is still at large?
Lenton Vanburen
Vanburen, 26, was arrested in 2021 on a second-degree murder charge while already in custody for an armed robbery, according to New Orleans police. NOLA.com reported that he pleaded not guilty.
Derrick Groves
Groves, 27, was convicted in October of two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder for a 2018 Mardi Gras shooting, WDSU reported. Law enforcement expressed concern that he may try to locate witnesses in his murder trial. He also faces a battery charge involving a correctional facility employee, the Associated Press reported. Landry cited Groves’ delayed sentencing as an example of systemic issues contributing to the escape, and said he planned to issue an executive order to review similar cases.
“If he would’ve been sentenced by a court system, he most likely would not have had an opportunity to escape,” Landry said.
Leo Tate
Tate, 31, faces charges including burglary, drug possession, and theft of a motor vehicle. He was previously sentenced in federal court for being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to the governor’s office. He was also connected to a 2018 shooting but accepted a plea deal and prosecutors dropped second-degree murder and attempted murder charges. He was convicted of obstruction of justice and sentenced to 10 years in prison, according to NOLA.com.
Antoine Massey
Massey, 32, was being held on charges of domestic abuse involving strangulation and motor vehicle theft, according to the governor’s office. He is also wanted in St. Tammany Parish on charges of kidnapping and rape, NOLA.com reported.
Jermaine Donald
Donald, 42, was charged with second-degree murder, aggravated battery, possession of a firearm, and obstruction of justice, according to the governor’s office. NOLA.com reported he pleaded not guilty in April 2024. He also faced contraband-related charges, but the district attorney’s office declined to pursue them, Landry said in a news conference.
Sheriff suspends reelection campaign
Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson has temporarily suspended her reelection campaign amid fallout from the situation.
"There is a long road ahead of me to be fully satisfied that the OJC and my deputies have the proper resources to perform their duties to the fullest extent the people of New Orleans deserve," Hutson said in a statement. "As such, I am temporarily suspending my re-election campaign. I cannot spend a moment putting politics over your needs. Now is the time to focus on security, accountability, and public safety. I look forward to continuing to collaborate with other agencies and community organizations to hear your valuable input and make necessary changes.”
Hutson faced a barrage of questions at an emergency city council meeting this week. In opening remarks, she called the jailbreak unacceptable.
"As your sheriff I take full accountability for this failure and it is my responsibility to make sure it is addressed with urgency and transparency," Hutson said.
Hutson noted that the jail had suspended staff, made an arrest, and launched internal and external investigations.
"We are also fully cooperating with the independent investigation led by the Louisiana Attorney General, and we have provided full access to all records, surveillance footage, and facility documentation," Hutson said in a statement issued Tuesday. "This breach happened under my leadership, and it is my responsibility to ensure it is addressed with urgency and transparency."
Restoring public trust and my commitment to security, accountability, and public safety must come before politics. Thank you to the community, our law enforcement partners, and city and state leaders. pic.twitter.com/GuVVRVnFfZ
— Sheriff Susan Hutson (@SheriffHutson) May 20, 2025
Hutson had previously cited longstanding infrastructure and staffing issues for the jail’s security problems.
"We are operating with outdated surveillance, aging infrastructure, blind spots in supervision, and critical staffing shortages," Hutson added. "These vulnerabilities have been raised repeatedly in our funding requests and now, the consequences are undeniable."
At a press conference Sunday, Mayor LaToya Cantrell said the city had allocated more than $577 million to the sheriff’s office over the past seven years.
“So we have been doing our part, my administration, and we will continue to do that on behalf of the residents and visitors that we serve every day,” Cantrell said.
Authorities said the inmates escaped around midnight last Friday, but staff didn’t notice until a routine check around 6:45 a.m., and didn't notify other law enforcement agencies until three hours later.
At the city council meeting, Councilman JP Morrell pressed Hutson about the additional three-hour delay.
"That’s just weird. You guys should be lockstep when something like this occurs," Morrell said.
"So, when we have to search this facility with 1,400 people in it, 24 pods, that takes a minute to be able to do," Hutson explained.
At least one state lawmaker has publicly called on Hutson to resign.
Facial recognition technology
The tactics used to locate the men have also raised concerns. Authorities relied on facial recognition technology to help identify and arrest at least one of the men, tapping into a private network of roughly 5,000 security cameras operated by Project NOLA, a nonprofit organization. Several law enforcement agencies, including the Louisiana State Police and the FBI, receive automatic alerts generated by the system.
“It just took literally a fraction of a second for them to look up towards the camera, and then the automation, the alerts went out,” said Brian Lagarde, who runs Project NOLA.
Supporters argue the technology has aided the manhunt. But critics, including the ACLU, warn it poses serious privacy and constitutional risks. Some agencies, including the New Orleans Police Department, have paused their use of facial recognition alerts out of fear it violates city ordinance.
Matt Bloom contributed to this report.
