The massive manhunt for five of the 10 inmates who fled a New Orleans jail stretched into a sixth day on May 21, and the escape’s investigation has now yielded three alleged accomplices.
Louisiana State Police said Wednesday they have arrested two women, Cortnie Harris and Corvanntay Baptiste, for their roles in helping the inmates who broke free in the early morning of May 16. Harris and Baptiste join jail maintenance worker Sterling Williams, who was arrested Monday, as accused co-conspirators.
Harris and Baptiste are charged with felony offenses for helping the men after the escape. Williams faces charges for aiding the escapees prior to the jailbreak.
Police said in a statement that Harris, 32, was in phone contact with one of the inmates before the escape and provided transportation to New Orleans locations to two fugitives afterward. They remain at large.
Baptiste, 38, was in phone and social media contact with escapee Corey Boyd, who was captured May 20, and helped get him food as he hid, police said.
Harris and Baptiste have been charged with one count each of accessories after the fact, according to the statement, which was posted on social media and contained this admonition:
“Those who choose to assist or conceal these individuals are violating the law and will be held accountable. Harboring fugitives threatens the safety of our communities and will not be tolerated.”
Some of the people in New Orleans closest to the alleged crimes committed by the escapees acknowledge being on edge, while other residents say they’re going about business as usual.
Tess Gonzales, manager of Daisy Mae’s Southern Fried Chicken & Breakfast, said there’s been some worry inside the bustling diner about the five escaped inmates still out in the streets, but there’s also relief now that five have been captured in five days.
“It’s both yes and no. There’s some concern for our safety because they are dangerous criminals,” Gonzales, 53, told USA TODAY. “But it’s not like we’re going to stop living our lives.”
Meanwhile, the prosecutors who put at least one of the inmates behind bars are worried. Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams told reporters two of the lawyers who tried a case with him against escaped convict Derrick Groves have left town with their families “out of fear of retribution and retaliation.”
Groves was convicted last year on two counts of second-degree murder and two charges of attempted second-degree murder.
“I am personally afraid,” Williams admitted. “We were asking for a life sentence of this man, and he is now at large.”
There has been some progress in the hunt. Corey Boyd, 19, was taken into custody in New Orleans on May 20, according to Louisiana State Police. Boyd was being held on charges of second-degree murder, second-degree attempted murder, aggravated battery and threatening a public official. Boyd now faces an additional charge of simple escape.Four other escapees from the Orleans Justice Center have also been captured within New Orleans city limits and are now being held at the maximum security Louisiana State Penitentiary, according to the state Department of Public Safety and Corrections.
The five who remain at large “are considered to be armed and dangerous,” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said. She lauded efforts to recapture the escapees.
“Great work by @LAStatePolice and all our law enforcement partners on the ground,” she said in a social media post after Boyd was in custody. “5 more to go.”
The hunt continued for Groves, Leo Tate, Jermaine Donald, Lenton Vanburen and Antoine Massey. Vanburen, Donald and Groves have been charged with second-degree murder, officials said.
The sheriff’s office has said the inmates appeared to have used a tool to cut through steel bars behind a toilet and sink fixture in a cell. They crawled through the hole, slipped onto a loading dock, shed their uniforms, scaled a wall and sprinted to freedom across Interstate 10, leaving behind a mocking message on the wall that read: “To Easy LoL.”
Jail employee Sterling Williams, 33, has been charged with multiple counts of being a principal to simple escape and malfeasance in office. Williams told investigators he complied with a demand from one of the inmates to shut off the water to a cell, allowing the escapees to rip out the toilet and sink unit and climb through the hole in the wall that was created, Murrill said in a statement.
In the arrest affidavit, Williams said one of the inmates threatened to stab him with a “shank” − a homemade knife − if he didn’t follow instructions.
Contributing: Jeanine Santucci, Michael Loria and Terry Collins
