New Orleans Jail Worker Arrested in Connection with Escape of 10 Inmates

By Justin Mitchell, John Simerman and Kasey Bubnash

Source The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate

An Orleans Parish jail maintenance worker was arrested Monday night and is accused of helping 10 inmates escape the facility in a Friday jailbreak that has spurred state-led investigations and a multi-agency manhunt.

The employee, 33-year-old Sterling Williams, is accused of cutting water to the cell where inmates ultimately pulled a toilet from a wall and climbed through a hole behind it, fleeing the jail, according to court documents. Williams, however, told investigators he only did so after he was threatened by an inmate.

Williams was booked in Plaquemines Parish on a count of malfeasance in office and 10 counts of simple escape, according to online jail records. Williams was initially booked into the New Orleans jail "without incident" before he was relocated to another facility, Attorney General Liz Murrill's office said in a news release Tuesday morning.

Though three jail employees were suspended without pay following the jailbreak, Sterling's arrest is the first in connection with the case outside of the re-capturing of the escapees.

"We will uncover all the facts eventually and anyone who aided and abetted will be prosecuted to the full extent the law allows," Murrill said in a statement. "I encourage anyone who knows anything and even those who may have provided assistance to come forward now to obtain the best possible outcome in their particular case."

An inmate threat, conversation with escapees

Williams told investigators that an inmate he identified as 32-year-old Antoine Massey, one of the inmates still on the run, threatened to "shank" him if he refused to cut the water, according to court records.

Investigators wrote in court documents that surveillance footage also shows Williams standing in the open doorway of the pod where the inmates escaped, talking to Massey, 27-year-old Derrick Groves and another unidentified inmate.

Williams told agents that Groves tried to take his phone tried to get him to bring cash app information to Groves' cousin in the next pod over, according to the documents.

Investigators said in court documents that if Williams had not turned off the water, the inmates likely would not have been able to escape. Williams, they said, did not notify authorities of the escape plan and did not come forward when confronted by law enforcement.

"Williams was initially very evasive and untruthful, but eventually became forthcoming and provided evidentiary information," investigators said in court documents.

Six inmates still on the run

The 10 men were discovered missing at 8:30 a.m. Friday during a routine headcount, and officials say the escape occurred more than seven hours before around 1 a.m.

Four of the 10 escapees had been captured by Tuesday morning. All of the men who have been arrested were found in the New Orleans area.

The latest arrest came Monday evening, when Louisiana State Police captured 21-year-old Gary Price in New Orleans East. The other three who have been caught are Kendell Myles, Robert Moody and Dkenan Dennis.

The six inmates still on the lam are Massey, Groves, Lenton Vanburen, Jermaine Donald, Leo Tate and Corey Boyd. U.S. Marshals and Louisiana State Police are confident the six men that are still at large will be captured, the agencies said Monday.

The arrest of the jail employee comes after Sheriff Susan Hutson said she believes the jailbreak could have been an inside job. Murrill's office is tasked with investigating what happened inside the jail and said Monday afternoon that the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office was fully cooperating with the probe.

The escape has gone viral across the world, with surveillance video showing the inmates breaking through a door and escaping through a wall behind a toilet. Notes were written to jailers on the wall around the hole where the inmates escaped, including one that said "To Easy LOL."

It has also prompted New Orleans attorneys to flee the city in fear of their safety, and District Attorney Jason Williams and Gov. Jeff Landry to spar over the length of time convicted felons are housed in the jail before being moved to a Department of Corrections prison.

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