21-05-2025
'Fear of retribution' in New Orleans: Mass jail escape brings a big uneasy
It's a typical bustling Tuesday as waiters yell customer orders to prep cooks inside Daisy Mae's Southern Fried Chicken & Breakfast in New Orleans. But nothing is normal outside.
Hundreds of law enforcement officers are scouring the streets for inmates who escaped a city jail on May 16. The search has spilled into the city's famed French Quarter, where a few of the escapees were seen on video while on the run. One inmate was found hiding under a car in the garage of one of the city's swankiest hotels.
Still, the city has remained vibrant, says Tess Gonzales, manager of Daisy Mae's. Gonzales said there's some worry about the six escaped inmates still out in the streets, but there's also relief now that five have been captured in five days.
'It's both yes and no. There's some concern for our safety because they are dangerous criminals,' Gonzales told USA TODAY. 'But it's not like we're going to stop living our lives.'
Gonzales, 53, quickly mentions New Orleans' resiliency during tough times like Hurricane Katrina. She recalls how the city soon rebounded after an armed man drove a speeding truck into New Year's Day revelers on Bourbon Street, killing 14 people and injuring dozens more in what officials called a domestic terror attack.
After the jailbreak, officials urged the public to remain vigilant but not panicked even as they suspect people both inside the jail and outside have helped the escapees. The daring escape from a long-troubled facility has put some of those closest to the crimes of the fugitives on edge, while other New Orleans residents say they've been going about business as usual.
'We keep it moving here. This city never stops. We keep going. We have to," Gonzales said.
The inmates made their escape in the early morning hours of May 16, ripping a "defective" cell door off its tracks, police said. One coerced a maintenance worker into shutting off water to a cell, allowing the escapees to rip out a toilet and sink unit and climb through a hole in the wall, officials said.
The group then fled through a loading dock, scaled a wall and ran across a nearby highway in a brazen escape captured on security camera. Multiple outlets have reported they left behind a message on the wall taunting their jailers: 'To Easy LoL.'
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said the escape "could be the largest jailbreak in the history of the state." But New Orleans resident Caliegh Flynn said it hasn't brought her or her city to a standstill.
'I have not thought about my safety the entire time since,' Flynn, 35, said. 'I've had more people who are out of town talk to me about the escape than those who live here. My mom texted me and told me to lock my doors.'
Flynn, an administrative assistant and part-time college professor who teaches film, said she's well aware of New Orleans' status as an international tourist destination known for Mardi Gras and hosting Super Bowls. She also knows it's typically one of the most dangerous cities in America.
She's trying to remain strong.
'The fear of possibility can make you fearful of doing things, meeting other people, and that's antithetical to how people want to live here,' said Flynn, who's lived in New Orleans for 11 years. 'I'm not looking over my shoulder wondering about this escape.'
Flynn said the escape is embarrassing for New Orleans, considering it spends so much of the city's budget on public safety, rather than schools or infrastructure. But having lived in other cities, including Philadelphia and Youngstown, Ohio, Flynn said New Orleans residents seemingly have a higher tolerance for chaos than most places she's been.
'Folks in New Orleans are more used to crazy things, whether it's weather-related with hurricanes, politics-related with corruption, or even crime-related,' said Flynn.
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The escapees still at large were awaiting trial on charges including murder, aggravated assault, and domestic abuse.
Anne Kirkpatrick, superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department, said at a May 20 city council meeting that law enforcement jumped into action not just to protect the general public, but also the victims, witnesses, and judges connected to the criminal cases of the inmates.
"We were very proactive," Kirkpatrick said. "We (are) going to have patrol cars at our schools."
But family members of 21-year-old Byron Jackson and 26-year-old Jamar Robinson say they're still feeling unsafe.
Jackson and Robinson were killed in a shooting during Mardi Gras in 2018. Derrick Groves, 27, was convicted of two charges of second-degree murder and two charges of attempted second-degree murder in connection with the shooting after he 'brazenly boasted about the violence' on social media, the district attorney's office said.
After Groves escaped on May 16, one of Jackson's relatives left his home in Orleans Parish to stay with his girlfriend in another part of town, saying he feared for his safety.
Groves' imprisonment came after a yearslong legal saga. He was initially convicted in 2019, but he had to be retried in January 2023, according to the district attorney. That ended in a mistrial after a juror read media accounts of the case, and a second retrial in June 2023 ended in a deadlocked jury.
After Groves' second conviction, Jackson's relative, who asked not to be identified out of safety concerns, said he felt like they had finally gotten justice and could begin to move on. The escape has now put them on edge.
The prosecutors who put Groves behind bars are worried, too. Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams told reporters two of the lawyers who tried the case with him have left town with their families "out of fear of retribution and retaliation."
"I am personally afraid," Williams admitted.
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The fears of Williams and his staff are no different than other residents, said MiAngel Cody, a federal criminal defense attorney and a New Orleans resident.
"I think all of us have had severe concerns about the community's safety — and that preceded this escape," Cody said.
One of Robinson's family members said she, too, fled New Orleans with her children and grandchildren after learning Groves had escaped, and they don't go outside and are being cautious. She also asked not to be identified for their safety.
Robinson's relative said she doesn't want to leave the place where he was raised, but she's not sure she'll feel safe in New Orleans even after Groves is caught. She said she was frustrated and angry with the officials running the jail.
Calls have been growing for Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson to resign. But back at Daisy Mae's diner, Gonzales said she's grateful so many law enforcement agencies have joined forces to catch the escapees, just as they did after the terror attack.
'I'm glad they are all working together to make us feel safe,' she said.
As for the remaining escapees, Gonzales thinks they may soon run out of options.
'They can only be on the run for so long because a criminal is a criminal and they may do something, make a move, or make a mistake, where they get caught,' Gonzales said. 'It's just a matter of time.'
Contributing: Jeanine Santucci and Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY; Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Big Easy hunkers down while mass jailbreak inmates hide out
