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Derrick Groves: Where the escaped New Orleans inmate was found today. Key details out
Derrick Groves, one of the prisoners who escaped the Orleans Parish Justice Center in New Orleans back in May, has been cornered
Derrick Groves, one of the prisoners who escaped the Orleans Parish Justice Center in New Orleans back in May, has been cornered in Atlanta, Fox News reported on Wednesday. The 31-year-old was among the 10 inmates who broke out of the Louisiana jail. Most of the escapees were captured within weeks.
Groves was convicted in 2024 of opening fire at a Mardi Gras block party that left two people dead and several injured. He was serving a life sentence for second-degree murder when he escaped custody. Federal investigators believe Groves didn’t act alone. Authorities allege he received assistance from outside contacts, including his girlfriend, Darriana Burton, a former jail employee. Burton has since been arrested and charged with helping him flee.
The Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office has called Groves a ‘cold-blooded killer’ with a long record of violence.
This comes months after nine of the 10 inmates who slipped through a hole behind a toilet and scaled a barbed wire fence pleaded not guilty to escape charges. Groves was on the run back then. Officials had pointed to video surveillance of the brazen escape.
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“Everyone is entitled to due process. But there’s a video of these detainees running out of the jail in the middle of the night. They were not heading to court hearings," Attorney General Liz Murrill said. "We will continue to hold everyone accountable for the escape.”
Groves faces life imprisonment without parole, but administrative delays have kept him in jail for years rather than a more secure prison facility.
“He’s got nothing to lose,” said Forrest Ladd, an Orleans Parish assistant district attorney who prosecuted Groves. “That’s a dangerous thing from anybody, much less somebody capable of causing mass harm.”
(With AP inputs)
