Ex-New Orleans jail worker charged with aiding high-profile breakout

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Ex-New Orleans jail worker charged with aiding high-profile breakout
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New Orleans DA talks about prison inmates escape investigation
Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams talks about his investigation into how 10 inmates managed to escape a New Orleans jail.
A former New Orleans jail employee believed to be the girlfriend of escapee Derrick Groves has been arrested and charged with allegedly helping facilitate the high-profile jailbreak, authorities said.
Deputies with the U.S. Marshals Service arrested Darriana Burton, 28, in New Orleans on June 9, according to Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill's office. The attorney general's office said Burton was taken into custody without incident.
Agents with the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Marshals Service coordinated to arrest Burton and obtained an arrest warrant on May 27. The attorney general's office said Burton was wanted in connection with the escape of 10 inmates, who fled the Orleans Parish jail on May 16.
Authorities accused Burton of aiding in Groves' escape. She faces a felony charge of conspiracy to commit simple escape and was taken into custody in the Plaquemines Parish jail, according to the attorney general's office.
"Burton is believed to be the current girlfriend of Derrick Groves," the attorney general's office said in a statement. "We have confirmed they were in an on-again, off-again relationship for three years."
From August 2022 to March 2023, Burton was employed at the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office, according to the attorney general's office. Burton was fired from her job in 2023 after she was arrested for allegedly bringing contraband into the jail and malfeasance in office.
The charges were dropped by the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office in October 2024, the attorney general's office said.
'We 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 said in a statement. "I'd like to thank the US Marshals Service for executing our warrant for this woman. We will arrest all aiders and abettors, and we will eventually get Antoine Massey and Derrick Groves back to prison where they belong."
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How did the inmates escape?
Ten inmates escaped from the Orleans Parish jail in the early morning of May 16. Authorities previously said that the group escaped through a hole in a cell wall after ripping away a toilet and sink unit.
Three were recaptured by the end of the same day, and five more were caught in the weeks after. Two of them were found over 300 miles away in Huntsville, Texas, and led authorities there on a high-speed chase before they were apprehended.
Antoine Massey, 32, and Groves, 27, are the two inmates still at large.
Massey has made national headlines in recent weeks after two videos posted on social media showed a man purporting to be the escapee. State and local authorities said they were aware of the videos and were reviewing them.
Authorities previously announced awards of up to $20,000 per inmate for information leading to their arrests. Authorities are currently offering $50,000 for tips leading to the arrest of Massey and Groves.
Groves was convicted of two charges of second-degree murder and two charges of attempted second-degree murder in October in connection with a shooting during Mardi Gras in 2018. Groves also has been awaiting sentencing on a manslaughter charge since October.
Massey is charged with domestic abuse involving strangulation and theft of a motor vehicle, according to Orleans Parish records. There also is a warrant for his arrest in St. Tammany Parish for second-degree rape, second-degree kidnapping, domestic abuse involving strangulation and violation of a protective order involving battery stemming from an incident in November, the parish's sheriff's office said.
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People arrested for helping escaped New Orleans inmates
Authorities previously said they suspected that other people had either helped the inmates escape from the prison or helped them evade capture. At least 16 people have been arrested, including Burton, for aiding the escapees.
On May 26, police announced the arrests of Diamond White, 21; Lenika Vanburen, 28; Tyshanea Randolph, 27; Patricia Vanburen, 18; Angel McKay, 41; and Lenton Vanburen Sr., 48. All were booked into the Plaquemines Parish jail, according to Louisiana State Police spokesperson Sergeant Kate Stegall.
White was arrested for helping Massey while the others were accused of aiding 26-year-old escapee, Lenton Vanburen Jr.
On May 23, Murrill announced that Trevon Williams, 23, was charged with 10 counts of being a principal to simple escape. Williams was already incarcerated at the New Orleans jail on unrelated charges.
Also on May 23, the New Orleans Police Department said it arrested Emmitt Weber, 28, on a charge of accessory after the fact of simple escape. Weber was one of four people questioned after investigators "combed through surveillance footage, connecting crucial dots in the search," police said.
Jail maintenance worker, Sterling Williams, 33, was charged with being a principal to simple escape and malfeasance in office. Murrill said Williams admitted that he complied with a demand from one of the inmates to shut off the water to a cell, which allowed the escapees to remove the toilet and sink unit.
Others arrested in connection with the prison escape include Casey Smith, 30; Connie Weeden, 59; Cortnie Harris, 32; and Corvanntay Baptiste, 28. Authorities accused them of being in contact with and helping the inmates.
According to NOLA.com, a 21-year-old woman was arrested and charged with being a principal to aggravated escape and obstruction of justice in connection with the case. The news outlet also reported that Daishanae Massey, 31, was booked with being an accessory after the fact to simple escape. It was unclear whether Daishanae Massey and Antoine Massey are related.
Contributing: Jeanine Santucci and Michael Loria, USA TODAY