Former jail employee and girlfriend of escaped New Orleans inmate arrested in connection with case
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Officials with the U.S. Marshals have announced the arrest of a woman in connection to the May breakout at the Orleans Parish jail in New Orleans.
U.S. Marshals officials said Darriana Burton, 28, was arrested in New Orleans on Monday, June 9. She had been wanted on a warrant for conspiracy to commit simple escape, a felony, from the Louisiana Attorney General's Office.
Burton is a former jail employee and the girlfriend of Derrick Groves, one of two inmates who is still at large after the escape, the Associated Press reported. The other at-large escapee has been identified as Antoine Massey.
Escaped inmate known as 'Devil in the Ozarks' found a 'short distance' from prison: sheriff
Groves, Massey, and eight other inmates escaped from the Orleans Parish Prison on May 16 by yanking open a faulty cell door, removing a toilet, crawling through a hole, and scaling a barbed wire fence in the early morning hours when a lone guard left to get food.
Two days before the escape, Groves made a FaceTime video call to Burton using a jail-issued iPad, authorities said. During that call, she helped him speak with a man whom police did not identify. The conversation was 'intentionally vague' and appeared to coordinate communication on other, unmonitored lines, according to a police affidavit for Burton's arrest.
The exchange showed Burton's direct role in helping with Groves' escape, police said in the arrest affidavit.
Burton and Groves 'were in an on-again, off-again relationship for three years,' dating back to the time when she was still working in the jail, authorities said.
Burton began working at the jail in 2022, but was fired after being 'arrested and charged for bringing contraband into the jail and malfeasance in office in 2023,' the attorney general's office explained. The attorney general's office reported that the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office refused the charges in 2024.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Person struck dead by train in St. Rose
ST. ROSE, La. (WGNO) — Someone was struck and killed by a train in St. Rose Wednesday, June 11. Person struck, killed by train: New Orleans police According to the St. Charles Parish Sheriff's Office, deputies responded to a report of a person on the railroad tracks behind a Comfort Inn in St. Rose. They were reportedly struck by the train and were pronounced dead at the scene. Stay with WGNO as the story struck dead by train in St. Rose 'Immaturity': Rand Paul rips White House after being 'uninvited' from picnic Learning dance moves from 'Velma Kelly' from Broadway's 'Chicago' Senate GOP seeks to cut SALT cap, triggering fight with House Appeals court ruled against New Orleans mayor in stalking case Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
Appeals court ruled against New Orleans mayor in stalking case
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — The Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled against New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell in a stalking case. Flood Warning & Advisory to impact evening commute Cantrell claims a woman, Anne Breaud, was stalking her when she took photos of the mayor dining at a French Quarter restaurant. Breaud took the photos from her own balcony in the Upper Pontalba building. In its decision the court is also requiring Cantrell to pay $8,000 in court costs and attorney fees to Breaud.'Immaturity': Rand Paul rips White House after being 'uninvited' from picnic Learning dance moves from 'Velma Kelly' from Broadway's 'Chicago' Senate GOP seeks to cut SALT cap, triggering fight with House Appeals court ruled against New Orleans mayor in stalking case ATF campaigning in New Orleans against illegal firearm purchases Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Seminole County man arrested for threatening ex-girlfriend with explosive device
The Seminole County Sheriff's Office arrested a Seminole County man on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, for planning to blow up his ex-girlfriend's car. On April 18, 2025, the SCSO Hazardous Devices Team responded to 1268 Wellington Terrace in Maitland about a suspicious item inside the residence. Detectives on the scene served the homeowner, 22-year-old Ian Rogers, with a Temporary Risk Protection Order and searched the residence. SCSO located the suspicious device, which was described as a black plastic container with orange wires wrapped around it and tape around the lid. During the investigation, deputies discovered Rogers had threatened to blow up his ex-girlfriend's car on FaceTime. Investigators met with the ex-girlfriend and were informed that she and Rogers dated for approximately a month. During the relationship, she realized he was becoming verbally and mentally abusive towards her, and she ended the relationship. Due to her ending the relationship, Rogers began harassing her and threatening to kill himself. Due to threatening his own life, she agreed to FaceTime Rogers. During the FaceTime, Rogers brandished an unknown container with a wire wrapped around it and threatened to blow up her car. On April 25, 2025, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Special Agent Bomb Technician started a month-long lab analysis of the suspicious device. Based on the ATF lab analysis, it was determined that Rogers made an explosive device capable of causing property damage, injury, and or death to persons nearby. Rogers was placed under arrest and booked into the Seminole County Jail. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
