Responding to the local sheriff’s demand for his removal from the probe into a substantial 10-man jail escape, the New Orleans district attorney has intensified a two-week verbal clash.
When Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson, who oversees the jail’s operations, initiated legal action to prevent Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams from probing the escape, Williams issued a statement clarifying his view of the sheriff.
“Following this jailbreak, the jail’s leadership should have promptly requested an independent forensic analysis of the site,” he stated Thursday evening in a press release. “The agency appears compromised until any and all wrongdoers have been identified and eliminated.”
“The Sheriff’s Office’s time and resources were clearly misspent this week, and once again, this office finds itself two steps behind the moment,” the release continued.
Derrick Groves was convicted in October of a double-homicide stemming from a shooting during Mardi Gras in 2018. After his conviction, he pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter in unrelated cases and was scheduled to be sentenced in July. He was being held in the jail until his sentencing.
Antoine Massey, a four-time escapee known locally for consistently evading law enforcement, also remains free.
On Thursday, Crime Stoppers and the FBI both increased their rewards for information leading to the arrests of the pair. Each man now has a $50,000 bounty on his head.
Two inmates, including a four-time convicted killer, are still on the loose after the jailbreak. (Louisiana State Police)
The eight other escapees have been caught as local, state and federal law enforcement continue to pour resources into ending the manhunt for good.
Fourteen people have been arrested for assisting the escapees either before or after they broke out.
Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of Hutson, Williams, Murrill and the New Orleans Criminal District Court for comment.
