The ongoing manhunt for the New Orleans jailbreak
JUNE 25, 2025, 8:00 A.M.
On May 16, 2025, ten inmates escaped from the Orleans Parish Prison, prompting a city-wide manhunt. Achieving the largest prison break in years in America, the inmates were able to escape around midnight by carving a hole behind a toilet in a handicapped cell.
EBHS sophomore Dannelle Sumilang said, “They broke out with electric hair clippers, which I’m surprised they had. It sounds like something out of a movie, but it actually happened. It shows how unprepared the prison really was.”
The Orleans Parish Prison, located in the Mid-City neighborhood of New Orleans, has faced mounting scrutiny in recent years over its outdated facility and understaffing. These, along with a longstanding reputation for violence and inadequate supervision, are believed to have created the conditions that enabled the easy spread of contraband like drugs and guns to unauthorized gambling. The facility, which houses pre-trial detainees and convicted felons, opened in 1837 and has experienced several minor breaches since, but nothing of this scale since 2017.
Exploiting a variety of security loopholes, the prisoners were able to escape so effortlessly they managed to scrawl “To Easy LoL” on the cell wall while leaving. Faulty locks, and a guard who stepped away to get food, allowed the ten inmates to force open a cell door and remove the toilet around 12:22 a.m., with over seven hours passing before authorities noticed they were gone.
EBHS senior Harshita Nagireddy said, “I think it’s crazy how they were keeping these really dangerous criminals in an area that was clearly not equipped to handle them, such as bad locks, infrastructure, and corrupt employees helping them.”
Six of the inmates were being held on charges of murder or attempted murder, heightening the public’s fear. Others faced charges ranging from armed robbery to drug trafficking. Within twelve days of the escape, eight inmates have been caught, while two are still on the loose. One inmate, Derrick Groves, was convicted of two charges of attempted second-degree murder in relation to the Mardi Gras shooting in 2018. Another was charged with domestic abuse and motor vehicle theft, as well as warrants for second-degree kidnapping.
Thirteen people have been arrested for helping the escapees, both within and outside of the jail. The accused helpers include a maintenance worker who cut off the water to the cell and those who provided food and transportation for inmates around New Orleans.
Louisiana holds one of the highest per-capita incarceration rates in the United States, putting Louisiana’s prison system under constant strain. Critics argue the state’s reliance on mass incarceration has created a brittle system focused on containment rather than rehabilitation or safety.
EBHS senior Ryan Maung said, “The jailbreak makes me question if the justice system is fair—if people are allowed to escape so easily. Or maybe the jail system is harsh with the conditions that they give to inmates making them want to escape more.”
The jailbreak didn’t just expose the faulty building design, but the deeper structural failures of a justice system struggling to hold itself together.
