A maintenance worker at the Orleans Justice Center was arrested Tuesday, accused of helping 10 inmates escape from the New Orleans jail last week.
Sterling Williams, 33, faces 10 counts of principal to simple escape and one count of malfeasance in office, according to Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill.
The inmates escaped around 1 a.m. Friday by forcing open a cell door, removing a toilet, breaking bars and pipes, and exiting through a loading dock door. Williams allegedly assisted by shutting off the water to the toilet, clearing the way for the escape.
“Williams admitted to agents that one of the escapees advised him to turn the water off in the cell where the inmates escaped from. Instead of reporting the inmate, Williams turned the water off as directed, allowing the inmates to carry out their scheme to successfully escape,” Murrill’s statement said.
An arrest affidavit obtained by WGNO alleges Williams told investigators that inmate Antoine Massey, who has tattoos on his face, “threatened to shank him” if he didn’t comply. Williams was seen on surveillance footage in the 1D pod talking with Massey, Derrick Groves, and another inmate.
According to the affidavit, Williams stated that Groves tried to take his phone from him and attempted to get Williams to bring a book with cash app information to his cousin in the next pod over.
Groves, who was recently convicted of second-degree murder, faces a life sentence without parole, ABC News reported.
The affidavit noted that the cell might have flooded if the water had remained on, potentially thwarting the escape. Williams was initially “evasive and untruthful” but later provided “evidentiary information,” per the affidavit. He was booked into Orleans Parish Jail before being relocated, Murrill said. Three other jail employees have been suspended amid the investigation, according to ABC News.
Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams, whose office is investigating, told ABC News the escape was “clearly an inside job.”
“Ten violent offenders don’t make their way into a pod made for two and make good their escape through concrete, rebar and barbed wire, without there being some sort of inside assistance,” he said. Asked why an employee might assist, he added, “Don’t know, greed, avarice, friendship, the motives that cause men to do bad things.”
The escapees were discovered missing during an 8:30 a.m. headcount Friday, with four — Robert Moody, Dkenan Dennis, Kendell Myles, and Gary C. Price — recaptured by Monday, per the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office. Six remain at large, including four charged with second-degree murder: Corey Boyd, Lenton Vanburen, Jermaine Donald, and Derrick Groves.
Sheriff Susan Hutson had previously said at a May 15 news conference, “We have the indication that these detainees received assistance in their escape from inside our department,” as reported by ABC News.
Murrill vowed to continue the investigation.“We will uncover all the facts eventually and anyone who aided and abetted will be prosecuted to the full extent the law allows,” she said.