Fugitive New Orleans Inmate Captured After Five Months on the Run

Five months after ten prisoners broke out of a Louisiana jail, the last escapee has been captured, Louisiana State Police confirmed on Wednesday.

The runaway inmate, 28-year-old Derrick Groves, was taken into custody in Atlanta, Georgia, following a brief standoff, police said.

Police released several gas canisters into a house where Groves was believed to be hiding, and then found him hiding in a crawl space, CBS News reported.

The 10 inmates, including Groves, had fled the Orleans Parish Justice Center in May by ripping a toilet from the wall and breaking metal bars around the hole in the wall before climbing down a hall and running across a highway.

The inmates had scrawled a few messages into the wall above the hole, including 'To Easy LoL', a smiley face with its tongue sticking out, and another that appeared to tell officers to catch them if they can.

The inmates' escape was made easier by a 'perfect storm' of staffing issues and building design flaws, Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson told CBS News in August.

Three were found within 24 hours of their escape and several others were captured in the following weeks. A tip led investigators to track Groves to the Atlanta area.

Groves was convicted of second-degree murder in October 2024 after he fired an assault rifle into a Mardi Gras block party, killing two adults. He now faces additional charges for his role in the escape, and officials have promised full prosecution.

Groves will be extradited to Louisiana for processing.