Arrested New Orleans jail worker says he helped inmates to escape after stabbing threat

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A New Orleans jail maintenance worker has been arrested and is being held on a $1.1 million bond after admitting he turned water off to a toilet covering a hole in a cell wall, allowing 10 men to squeeze through the gap in one of the largest jailbreaks in recent U.S. history.

The inmates pulled off the daring escape from a jail early Friday by yanking open a faulty cell door, moving the toilet and slithering through the hole. Graffiti on the wall included the message "To Easy LoL," with an arrow pointing to the gap.

Officials have underscored multiple security lapses, including ineffective cell locks and that the inmates escaped when the lone guard monitoring them went to get food. The absence of the inmates, many charged with or convicted of violent offenses such as murder, was not reported to law enforcement for hours. Four have since been apprehended and six remain at large.

During a tense New Orleans City Council meeting on Tuesday, Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson, who oversees the jail, said she “takes full accountability" for the escape.

“There were procedural failures and missed notifications, but there were also intentional wrongdoings. This was a coordinated effort aided by individuals inside our own agency who made the choice to break the law,” Hutson said. “We are continuing to pursue everyone involved.”

Responding to a question from Councilmember Oliver Thomas, Hutson said she couldn't guarantee inmates would not be left unattended again, noting the jail is operating with 60% staffing capacity.

Arrested staffer describes his involvement in the escape

The inmates escaped by removing a sink-toilet combination unit from a cell, then cutting steel bars behind the cell room sink, Hutson said. After bending the bars they slipped out. It's unclear what they used to saw through the bars.

Authorities believe sheriff's employees helped, and three have been suspended. On Tuesday, authorities made their first staff arrest.

Maintenance worker, Sterling Williams, 33, admitted that one of the escapees “advised him to turn the water off in the cell” before the men slipped through the hole, the Louisiana Attorney General’s office said in a statement.

Williams is charged with 10 counts of principle to simple escape and one count of malfeasance in office, with a $100,000 bond per charge. He is being held at a detention center in another parish and appeared in court via Zoom on Tuesday afternoon, represented by a public defender, court records show. Several of Williams' family members did not respond to requests for comment.

Why did he do it?

Williams said one of the escapees threatened to “shank” him if he did not turn off the water, according to an arrest affidavit. Another inmate tried to take Williams’ phone and attempted to get him to bring a book with cash app information.

Attorney General Liz Murrill said Williams “made some bad decisions” and that he should have brought the threat and escape plan to someone’s attention.

Thomas said the sheriff’s office has a responsibility to protect employees and create a safe environment for them to report threats and other problems.

“We cannot allow the inmates to run the facilities. That can’t happen,” Thomas said. “We cannot allow them to threaten the men and women who work there.”

The affidavit says Williams “willfully and maliciously assisted with the escape” and that without his help they would have flooded the cell and drawn attention to their escape efforts.

Murrill told reporters Tuesday that no additional charges have been filed against other employees but that the investigation continues and “there could be more arrests.”

Delays and ongoing security concerns

Officials have pointed to other security lapses before, during and after the jailbreak.

On Tuesday, New Orleans officials grilled the sheriff's office about why there was an hourslong delay in reporting the escape.

While a head count of inmates normally starts around 6:30 a.m. and takes less than an hour, sheriff’s officials said they were still verifying whether inmates had escaped more than two hours later. Jeworski “Jay” Mallet, the jail’s Chief of Corrections. City and state police did not find out about the escape until around 10:30 a.m., more than nine hours later.

Local police, who have “exponentially vaster” resources to track down the inmates, should have been notified immediately, Councilmember J.P. Morrell said.

“There were failures, failures in our personnel,” Hutson said.

Many state and local officials say blame rests squarely on Hutson.

“As sheriff I take fully accountability for this failure,” she told the New Orleans City Council on Tuesday. “Our community deserves answers and more importantly it deserves action.”

Still on the lam

Six of the fugitives remain on the run. Many of them were in jail awaiting trial or sentencing, including for murder charges.

“There are witnesses and victims, and all of those people are very, rightfully, unnerved by all of this,” Murrill said.

The sheriff’s office says more than 200 law enforcement personnel are part of the search. Up to $20,000 is being offered for information leading to the capture of each escapee.

Antoine Massey, who is identified in the affidavit as the inmate who threatened to stab Williams, is one of the men still at large. According to the Morehouse Parish Sheriff’s Office, Massey also escaped from a jail in northeast Louisiana in 2019 and was recaptured the same day in a town in Texas, some 300 miles (480 kilometers) away.

“He was in the exercise yard and somehow cut part of the chain-link fence, enough to shimmy through the hole,” Morehouse Parish Sheriff Chief Deputy James Mardis said, adding that an accomplice was waiting with a car.

Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick, of the New Orleans Police Department, said she believes most of the escapees are within city limits. Officials have warned that anyone aiding the fugitives will face charges.

Meanwhile, around 60 inmates at the ailing jail facility have been transferred to more secure state prisons.

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Cline reported from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.