New Orleans jail escapee's 'Bonnie and Clyde' accomplice revealed
The girlfriend of one of the inmates who escaped in the huge New Orleans jail break has been arrested while her 'on-again, off-again' lover remains on the lam.
Former prison guard Darriana Burton, 28, was charged with 'conspiracy to commit simple escape' after 10 inmates broke free from the Orleans Parish Jail in Louisiana on May 16.
Her boyfriend, convicted killer Derrick Groves, 27, is one of two inmates not yet captured.
Burton allegedly had 'intentional and active involvement in the planning phase' and is accused of picking up at least one of the inmates after the escape, according to the Louisiana's Attorney General's Office.
Burton participated in a video call with Groves two days before the escape and held up another phone to the camera for another, unknown man, to join the conversation and discuss the escape outside the jail's monitoring systems, according to an affidavit obtained by Fox 8.
The pair called again later that evening, during which the three had another conversation. This time, the unidentified man reportedly said the prison break plan was a 'bad move' and could 'trigger a manhunt.'
Detectives believe, however, that at this point outside contacts had been made aware of the plan and it was already underway.
Burton previously worked at the Sheriff's Office from 2022 until she was arrested and charged for bringing contraband into the jail and malfeasance in office in 2023, according to a statement from Attorney General Liz Murrill.
Ten prisoners were captured on shocking video footage escaping from the Orleans Parish Jail in New Orleans, Louisiana, on May 16
Groves is one of two inmates who remain at large after ten escaped through a wall behind a prison toilet.
The group of escapees used a blanket to protect themselves from the barbed wired fence.
He has been linked to four killings, and authorities warned that he may be violent or attempt to locate witnesses in his murder trial.
Groves was accused for attempted second-degree murder at 17, but was eventually found not guilty, according to court records obtained by CNN.
Then, he was convicted for the second time last year of two charges on second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder for the 2018 shooting on Mardi Gras.
Groves was found to have be one of two gunmen who opened fire on 'what should have been joyous Mardi Gras family gathering' with AK-47-style assault rifles, according to the District Attorney's Office.
He was found guilty of killing Jamar Robinson and Byron Jackson as well as the attempt on the life of two other victims who were shot.
Groves' aunt, Jasmine Groves, pleaded with her nephew to turn himself in to avoid any deadly force in attempts to return him into custody.
She told WDSU that no one in her family knows where Groves is following his escape.
'For my family, it's been like reliving a constant nightmare that we relived throughout these whole 30 years,' she said, adding that Groves' mother had been taken by law enforcement for questioning.
Groves was found guilty of killing Jamar Robinson and Byron Jackson as well as the attempt on the life of two other victims who were shot
The remaining inmate on the loose is fellow escapee Antoine Massey who is wanted in connection to a rape and kidnapping in St. Tammany Parish, as well as domestic abuse and theft charges in Orleans Parish.
Massey, 32, released a video on Instagram where he pleaded his innocent and insisted he was 'let out' last month.
'I'm one of the ones that was let out of Orleans Parish jail where they said I escaped, right?' Massey says.
The heavily-tattooed con looked down the camera as he insisted charges against him had been made up by a jealous woman he was 'dating'.
'The reason why I left the jail is because these people were trying to give me a life sentence in both parishes for something I did not do,' he said.
As he claimed he is a victim of corruption, Massey appealed for help from public figures who had 'been through the corrupt system', including Trump, Lil Wayne and the recently-pardoned rapper NBA YoungBoy.
Murrill said in the latest release that they will 'continue to pursue anyone and everyone who has aided and abetted these criminals.'
'We will find you, arrest you, and prosecute you to the full extent of the law,' Murrill added. 'I'd like to thank the US Marshals Service for our executing our warrant for [Burton]. We will eventually get Antoine Massey and Derrick Groves back to prison where they belong.'
Sterling Williams (pictured), 33, has been arrested for helping a group of violent criminals escape by allegedly turning off the water to their cell block
The group of escapees were also said to have been aided by a prison maintenance worker, Sterling Williams, who allegedly turned off the water to the cell they broke out of.
Williams said he was forced to do so and the inmates threatened to 'shank' him if he refused, Massey said in his Instagram video, however, that wasn't true.
'Sterling flat-out lied on me,' Massey said.
Police have arrested more than a dozen alleged accomplices since the escape last month, including the grandmother of one of the escapees who allegedly helped him escape.
Connie Weeden, 59, is accused of helping her grandson Jermaine Donald and allegedly was in regular contact with him before and after the jailbreak.
The investigation uncovered evidence that Weeden was speaking to Donald over the phone in the lead-up to the escape and continued providing assistance even after he had fled the facility.
Police say she even provided cash to the dangerous fugitive through a mobile phone app, potentially helping to fund his life on the run.
The inmates who have been successfully located and returned to custody include Corey Boyd, 20, Kendall Myles, 21, Gary Price, 21, Dkenan Dennis, 24, Robert Moody, 22, Leo Tate, 32, Lenton Vanburen Jr., 27, and Jermaine Donald, 42.
There is now a $50,000 reward for any information leading to the remaining escapee's arrests.
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