An escaped New Orleans prisoner has been captured after 5 months on the run

Five months after 10 Inmates escape from a Louisiana prisonLouisiana State Police confirmed on Wednesday that the last fugitive had been arrested.

The escaped inmate, Derrick Groves, 28, was taken into custody in Atlanta, Georgia, after a brief standoff, police said.

CBS News, the BBC’s partner in the US, reported that police fired several gas canisters inside a house where Groves was believed to be hiding, then found him hiding in a small place.

The 10 inmates, including Groves, escaped from the Orleans Parish Justice Center in May by ripping a toilet from the wall and breaking metal bars around the hole in the wall before descending into the hall and running across the highway.

Inmates wrote some messages on the wall above the hole, including “To Easy LoL,” a smiley face with its tongue sticking out, and another message that appeared to ask officers to arrest them if they could.

Orleans Parish Mayor Susan Hutson told CBS News in August that the inmates’ escape was made easier thanks to a “perfect storm” of staffing issues and building design flaws.

Three of them were found within 24 hours of their escape and several more Others were arrested In the following weeks.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Brian Fair, of the Eastern District of Louisiana, told CBS News that a tip led investigators to track Groves to the Atlanta area.

When police first approached the house, it appeared there was no one there, he said.

“We had concerns that maybe he wasn’t home,” Fair told CBS. “But eventually, they found him hiding in a crawl space. And I think the crawl space was in the basement…and he put some thought and work into what hiding place he was in.”

CBS reported that Groves was convicted of second-degree murder in October 2024 after he fired an assault rifle at a Mardi Gras party, killing two adults.

He was also convicted of attempted murder and a federal firearms charge, and was sentenced to life in prison, according to the Atlanta Police Department.

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Morell said Groves now faces additional charges for his role in the escape.

She added: “I will ensure that he is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Atlanta police said Groves will be extradited to Louisiana for processing.