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Derrick Groves capture update: Details on Atlanta standoff; New Orleans inmate has ‘nothing to lose’
Derrick Groves update: The last of the 10 inmates who escaped the Orleans Parish Justice Center, Louisiana is in a standoff with authorities in Atlanta
Derrick Groves update: The last of the 10 inmates who escaped the Orleans Parish Justice Center, Louisiana, back in May, is in a standoff with authorities in Atlanta, Fox reported on Wednesday. WWL added that officials have surrounded a home in Atlanta, believed to be the Derrick Groves'. Authorities have not issued a statement about the situation yet.
Groves escaped the New Orleans jail with nine other inmates on May 16. In the weeks following the escape, nine of them were captured. Officials said the inmate received help from his girlfriend and former jail employee Darriana Burton for the jailbreak. She was later arrested and charged. The 10 prisoners escaped by crawling through a hole behind a toilet.
Read More: Who is Derrick Groves? Escaped New Orleans inmate's past charges; details here
‘Has nothing to lose’
Last year, a jury convicted Groves of killing two people after he opened fire on a family block party with an assault rifle in what prosecutors said was a feud with rival drug dealers.
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.”
In 2014, at the age of 17, Groves was arrested and incarcerated for nearly two years on a charge of attempted second-degree murder for which he was later acquitted by a jury, though his own father had testified against him, according to court records and a prosecutor in the case, Mike Trummel.
How likely is it Groves will be recaptured?
More than 90% of people who escape from U.S. correctional facilities are recaptured within a year, said Bryce Peterson, adjunct professor of criminal justice at John Jay College.
“The longer you are out there, the more likely you are to stay out,” said Peterson, though he believes Groves will be caught eventually due to the high level of media attention.
(With AP inputs)
