Latest news with #CaseySmith
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Yahoo
More people arrested for helping escaped New Orleans inmates as search for 5 continues
More than a week after 10 inmates broke out of a New Orleans jail, authorities have recaptured five and made a slew of other arrests of people accused of helping them evade capture. At least seven people have been arrested and charged with helping the inmates, including most recently a fellow inmate accused of collaborating with the escapees. Trevon Williams, who did not escape from the New Orleans jail, was charged with 10 counts of being a principal to simple escape, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill announced on May 23. "As I promised when we initiated our investigation, we will hold absolutely everyone who contributed any role to the prison break in New Orleans accountable," Murrill said. Also on May 23, the New Orleans Police Department said it arrested Emmitt Weber 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," the police department said. Also in recent days, 30-year-old Casey Smith was arrested for allegedly helping two of the escaped inmates with transportation, the police department said. She was also charged with being an accessory after simple escape. They join two other women and a jail employee who have been charged. The Louisiana State Police issued a stern warning to members of the public that anyone assisting the inmates on the run will be caught and arrested. "The decision is simple – assist law enforcement in locating them and receive reward money, or be arrested with a potentially high bond. The choice is yours!" state police said. The inmates escaped in the early morning hours of May 16. They ripped a toilet and sink unit away from a wall and climbed through a hole, officials have said. By the end of the day, three of them were recaptured and authorities nabbed two more in the days that followed. It has been four days since an inmate has been taken back into custody. The inmates still at large are Jermaine Donald, Derrick Groves, Leo Tate, Lenton Vanburen and Antoine Massey. Donald, Vanburen and Groves have all been charged with second-degree murder, officials said. Robert Moody, Dkenan Dennis, Kendall Myles, Gary Price and Corey Boyd are back in custody. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: New Orleans jail escape: More arrested for helping inmates
Fox News
23-05-2025
- Fox News
Inmate arrested in connection with Orleans Justice Center escape
An inmate has been arrested as part of the ongoing investigation into the recent escape at the Orleans Justice Center, according to Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill. The inmate, Trevon Williams, was already in custody at the time of the May 16 escape from Orleans Justice Center. Authorities now plan to file additional charges against him related to his alleged involvement in the incident that allowed 10 incarcerated individuals to escape from the jail in New Orleans. Authorities did not elaborate on Williams' alleged role. "While Trevon Williams was already incarcerated, we will be filing additional charges related to the escape," Murrill said in a post on X Friday. "We will continue our investigation and follow all of the facts to ensure we get accountability." Williams is the latest person implicated in what has become a growing criminal conspiracy to help 10 inmates flee the jail on May 16. "As I promised when we initiated our investigation, we will hold absolutely everyone who contributed any role to the prison break in New Orleans accountable," Murrill added. As of Friday evening, five citizens have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the escape. Casey Smith, 30, was arrested on Thursday and is accused of helping two fugitives immediately after the jailbreak by transporting them to multiple locations. Louisiana State Police on Thursday announced that 59-year-old Connie Weeden of Slidell, Louisiana, has been taken into custody on one felony count of being an accessory after the fact. According to state police, Weeden was in contact with escapee Jermaine Donald by phone both before and after his jailbreak. She also allegedly provided him with cash via a cellphone app after his escape. WATCH: Stunning video shows New Orleans inmates escaping jail Two other women, Cortnie Harris and Corvanntay Baptiste, were arrested and charged on Wednesday for allegedly being accessories after the fact in assisting the jailbreak. A maintenance worker at the jail, Sterling Williams, was arrested and charged on Tuesday for allegedly cutting a cell's water supply so the inmates could remove a toilet and escape through a hole behind it. He was charged with 10 counts of principal to simple escape and one count of malfeasance in office for allegedly turning off the water in the cell from which the escapees fled. He is being held on $1.1 million bond, $100,000 per count, in the Plaquemines Parish Jail. The following fugitives are still at large: Authorities have reminded the public that these individuals are considered armed and dangerous. Anyone with information relevant to this ongoing multi-agency investigation is encouraged to contact law enforcement. Tips can also be submitted anonymously by calling Crimestoppers of Greater New Orleans at 504-822-1111 or toll-free at 1-877-903-STOP.
Reuters
23-05-2025
- Reuters
Fifth person arrested on suspicion of aiding New Orleans escapees
May 23 (Reuters) - A fifth person has been arrested on suspicion of helping some of the 10 inmates who staged a daring escape from a New Orleans jail that was caught on security video, authorities said on Friday. Authorities apprehended Casey Smith, 30, who allegedly helped two escapees who had broken out of the Orleans Justice Center in the early morning hours of May 16, police said Friday in a statement. She helped the inmates "as they were transported to multiple locations in hours following their escape." As of Friday afternoon, five of the escapees had been captured, while five others remained at large. Smith was arrested and booked into jail on suspicion of being an accessory after the fact to simple escape. On Thursday, Louisiana State Police said 59-year-old Connie Weeden was arrested after allegedly providing funds to escapee Jermaine Donald. Two other women, Cortnie Harris, 32, and Corvanntay Baptiste, 38, were arrested earlier in the week on suspicion of being accessories after the fact, state police said. A maintenance worker at the jail, Sterling Williams, 33, was also arrested for allegedly assisting in the escape. Williams admitted to agents that he had turned off the water supply to a cell at the request of one inmate, who then tore off a sink and toilet from the wall and fled through the hole, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said on Tuesday. The inmates made their way out of the jail through the hole and out of a loading dock before scaling a wall and running across a highway, security video showed. According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Williams said the inmate had threatened to cut him with a "shank" - a jailhouse term for a homemade knife - if he did not comply. The inmates were discovered missing during a morning headcount. Williams did not report the inmate and allowed "the inmates to carry out their scheme to successfully escape," Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said on Tuesday in a statement. He was booked into Orleans Parish jail, then relocated to another facility and charged with 10 counts of simple escape and malfeasance in office.
The Guardian
23-05-2025
- The Guardian
Five New Orleans jailbreak fugitives remain on the run as police round up alleged helpers
Several people have been arrested on accusations of helping some of the 10 men who broke out of New Orleans' jail on 16 May – and half of the escapees remained on the run as a manhunt for them entered its second week, according to authorities. Police said Friday that they had booked Casey Smith, 30, a day earlier on allegations that she provided transportation to at least two of the escapees in the hours after the jailbreak. She had allegedly admitted to doing that alongside another woman whom police took into custody on Wednesday, identified as 32-year-old Cortnie Harris, Smith's cousin and the girlfriend of one of the escaped men, Leo Tate, 31. Smith confessed to police who questioned her that she drove to multiple places with Harris, Tate and Jermaine Donald, 42, at some point after the breakout but 'never attempted to contact the police to forward any information', according to sworn statements filed in criminal court by investigations. Meanwhile, 59-year-old Connie Weeden, of the New Orleans suburb of Slidell, was arrested on Thursday, too, reportedly on allegations of giving cash to Donald over a cellphone app. Tate and Donald continued were still at large as of Friday. Prior to that, Corvanntay Baptiste, 38, of Slidell, had been arrested on suspicion of speaking with yet another escapee – Corey Boyd, 19 – by phone and over social media. She also allegedly gave Boyd food while he was inside of a home before authorities recaptured him. Jail maintenance worker Sterling Williams, 33, was booked after allegedly admitting to officials that one of the escaped men had threatened to stab him if he did not turn the water off to a toilet in a particular cell at the facility. Williams allegedly did that, and then the escapees yanked open a cell door and fled through a hole in the wall behind the toilet in question – scrawling taunting messages including 'catch us when you can' and 'fuck' the sheriff's office operating the jail – without officials at the lockup noticing for hours. Beside Donald and Tate, officials on Friday were continuing to search for Derrick Groves, Lenton Vanburen and Antoine Massey. Kendall Myles, 20; Robert Moody, 21; and Dkenan Dennis, 24, had all been caught within hours of getting away. Boyd and Gary Price, 21, were arrested on Monday. Many of those men were awaiting trials on violent charges, including murder, when they escaped – scaling a barbed wire fence and scampering across a highway – while the lone jail staffer monitoring them left for food. The sensational nature of the breakout has captured international media attention while casting an unflattering light on the city's long-troubled jail and criminal justice systems. For instance, Groves is the grandson of Kim Groves, who filed a brutality complaint against a New Orleans police officer before the officer then hired a hitman to shoot her to death in 1994 in what was one of the city's most notorious murder cases. The officer, Len Davis, eventually received a death sentence. But Joe Biden, at the end of his presidency, commuted the punishment to life imprisonment amid a grant of clemency for 37 death row inmates. Meanwhile, Derrick Groves was in New Orleans' jail after being convicted of two murders as well as pleading guilty to a pair of other killings. He had been at the lockup that generally houses defendants awaiting trial rather than a state prison where convicted murderers serve out their life sentences awaiting post-conviction proceedings. His attorney had also been suspended from practicing law for two years in part for admittedly taking money from clients during a previous suspension. Separately, as the Associated Press reported, the breakout had occurred more than 10 years after the sheriff's office in charge of the jail had endorsed a federal consent decree, a detailed plan aiming to overhaul policies at the facility to reduce violence and improve inmate medical treatment. One scandal that preceded the implementation of that consent decree – which was still in effect on Friday – involved a series of videos which showed people at an earlier iteration of the jail now known as the Orleans Justice Center (OJC) drinking beer, ingesting drugs and ejecting bullets from a handgun. Yet, as scandalous as they once were, those videos do not compare to the seriousness of the 16 May jailbreak, said Rafael Goyeneche, a former prosecutor who is president of the Metropolitan Crime Commission, a New Orleans-based watchdog group. If New Orleans' sheriff, Susan Hutson – who took office in 2022 – 'or anyone was thinking about terminating the jail consent decree, this escape has ended any serious discussion about that', Goyeneche said. Court documents filed on Friday and obtained by the Guardian revealed there was a brazen but failed attempt to escape at the OJC on 1 May. In that case, two incarcerated men hoisted a third – identified as Tevin Arbuthnot – who crawled into the ceiling of a pod of cells. Arbuthnot was caught after he fell through the ceiling, which evidently collapsed under his weight, court records said. Two days later, New Orleans voters fell four ballots short of rejecting the renewal of a property tax funding maintenance, staffing and certain programs at Hutson's office. Hutson is up for re-election in October and is expected to face multiple challengers. Within days of the 10-man breakout, she told the New Orleans city council that her office needed millions of dollars to fix various problems at the jail or she 'cannot guarantee' people incarcerated at the facility would not be left unattended in the future. The Associated Press contributed reporting
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Yahoo
Fourth arrest made, accused in aiding escaped Orleans Parish inmates
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — A fourth person accused of helping two of 10 Orleans Justice Center escaped inmates has been arrested, according to the New Orleans Police Department. On Thursday, May 22, officers arrested 30-year-old Casey Smith following an investigation by NOPD Special Operations Division Tactical II team. Tangipahoa Parish deputies currently searching for repeat escapee Officers said they received information that linked them to Smith who allegedly aided two escapees, transporting them to multiple locations hours after the May 12 escape. Smith was arrested and taken for questioning where officers said she admitted to her involvement alongside 32-year-old Cortnie Harris who was arrested days prior. She and 38-year-old Corvanntay Baptiste were accused of helping inmate Corey Boyd. Smith was booked into the Plaquemines Parish jail on a charge of accessory after the fact to simple escape. Slidell man facing drug charges following traffic stop Also on Thursday, 59-year-old Connie Weeden was arrested on accusations of communicating with escapee Jermaine Donald. Anyone with information that can help in the investigation into the escape can the NOPD or Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111.'I'm sincerely sorry': Billy Joel cancels all concerts after being diagnosed with brain disorder Photos: 2025 Carb Day at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Fourth arrest made, accused in aiding escaped Orleans Parish inmates Judge temporarily blocks Trump administration's foreign students ban at Harvard Slidell man facing drug charges following traffic stop Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
