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Where is Derrick Groves? Only New Orleans inmate on the loose after Antoine Massey's capture
Derrick Groves, a 27-year-old convicted double murderer, remains the last fugitive at large following a mass escape from the Orleans Justice Center
Derrick Groves, a 27-year-old convicted double murderer, remains the last fugitive at large following a mass escape from the Orleans Justice Center in New Orleans last month. On Friday, officials announced that Antoine Massey had been caught. The rest of the escapees were captured earlier this month.
Officials with the Louisiana State Police said Massey will be taken to a correctional facility outside the area. At the time of the escape, he was facing charges of domestic abuse battery.
Where is Derrick Groves?
Groves was last seen on surveillance footage on May 16, 2025, walking down Baronne Street in New Orleans’ Central Business District with Massey and recaptured escapee Lenton Vanburen Jr., hours after the 1 AM jailbreak. No confirmed sightings have been reported since.
Authorities investigated tips linking Groves to Violet, Louisiana, and Bastrop, Louisiana, but he was not found in either location A June 18, 2025, search of a family home by US Marshals, prompted by suspicions of contact with relatives, also yielded no results. His aunt, Jasmine Groves, and family denied knowing his whereabouts.
A law enforcement source told Fox 8 this month that there’s no evidence he left Louisiana. Attorney General Liz Murrill suggested he may be hiding in other cities.
Derrick Groves, convicted in October 2024 of two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder for a 2018 Mardi Gras double homicide, faces a life sentence without parole. He also pleaded guilty to manslaughter and battery of a correctional officer.
In May, Groves and nine others escaped by exploiting faulty cell locks, removing a toilet and sink after water was shut off (allegedly by maintenance worker Sterling Williams under Massey’s threat), and crawling through a wall hole, leaving a taunting “to easy LOL” note. They scaled a barbed-wire fence and fled via a loading dock.
Groves’ girlfriend, Darriana Burton, a former Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office employee, was arrested for conspiracy to commit simple escape. She allegedly coordinated via FaceTime and transported Vanburen post-escape.
A $50,000 reward per fugitive (totaling $100,000 for Groves and Massey) has driven over 700 tips, with three tipsters paid for aiding recaptures.
