Southeast
New Orleans officials grilled over 'coordinated' 10-inmate jailbreak
In a fiery Tuesday meeting, the New Orleans City Council grilled the city’s top law enforcement officials over Friday’s 10-man jailbreak that has sent shock waves across the nation.
During the first portion of the meeting, New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick was questioned by the council, headed by President Jean-Paul Morrell.
The first bombshell came when Morrell asked Kirkpatrick when the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) became aware of the escape.
Kirkpatrick told him she was notified by a police captain at around 10:30 a.m., and only verified the captain’s claim by looking at media reports about the escape.
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Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick answers questions from the New Orleans City Council.
Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson was later questioned, and took responsibility for the escape as she addressed the council in an opening statement, calling it “unacceptable.”
“As your sheriff, I take full accountability for this failure, and it is my responsibility to make sure it is addressed with urgency and transparency,” she said.
“While our internal investigation continues, and while we must respect the boundaries of an active criminal investigation, I can tell you this: there were procedural failures and missed notifications,” said Hutson. “But I can also tell you this: there were intentional wrongdoings. This was a coordinated effort, aided by individuals inside our own agency, who made the choice to break the law.”
However, she shifted some of the blame to the county and city of New Orleans, saying that the department hasn’t been given adequate resources to run the jail despite what she said were multiple attempts to obtain those resources.
VIDEO SHOWS 10 INMATES ESCAPE FROM JAIL IN NEW ORLEANS AS MANHUNT CONTINUES
Sheriff Susan Hutson speaks to the New Orleans City Council after the 10-person jail escape on May 15.
After her opening statement came a volley of questions about the timeline of events on Friday morning at the jail.
On Hutson’s right sat Chief of Corrections Jay Mallett. Mallett and Hutson tag-teamed the answers to the council’s questions.
The first question: what was the timeline of the escape?
Mallett immediately obfuscated, saying he could not reveal certain details given the ongoing investigation, much to the chagrin of Morrell.
“So [the] timeline being one of the most critical parts of what we’ve heard from, and you’re saying you can’t share those things, that they’ll jeopardize the investigation?” he asked Mallett.
He said that at 8:44 a.m., the initial count of inmates from earlier in the morning “didn’t clear,” and was found to be incorrect.
He disclosed to Council member Helena Moreno that the count begins routinely at around 6:45 a.m. and ends at about 7:45 a.m., leaving a gap of 46 minutes unaccounted for.
Chief of Corrections Jay Mallett speaks to the New Orleans City Council about the mass jail escape.
By 8:57 a.m., he said, a lockdown had been initiated, and it was determined that two inmates were missing.
However, a full search of the jail by the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office for missing inmates didn’t happen until 9:30 a.m., and the U.S. Marshals Service was not notified until after that was completed.
When Moreno pressed, Mallett couldn’t tell the council when exactly it realized that 10 inmates were missing.
Morrell asked Mallett when NOPD was notified, and Mallett could not tell him, saying there were “missed” steps in the reporting chain.
“The delay between when your count happened and when the public notification came out is anywhere from two to three hours,” Morrell said. “That’s a tremendous amount of time that expands the radius of where these people can go and where they could be. There’s a substantial breach of public trust when you look at the timeline.”
Hutson eventually jumped in and explained that during the frenzy over the potential escape, corrections officers had to account for 1,400 inmates and view more than 90 security cameras. This measure, she said, was taken to be certain that they told outside authorities exactly which inmates were missing in order to ensure authorities weren’t searching for people who were still in lockup.
“You also can’t give out false information about who’s missing,” she said.”[If] one person was found elsewhere in the facility, but now law enforcement was looking for them, that would waste resources.”
Maintenance worker arrested for allegedly aiding escapees, says he was threatened
The Orleans Parish Jail maintenance worker arrested in connection with the escape reportedly said he was threatened with violence by the escapees before helping them get loose.
Sterling Williams, 33, an employee of the sheriff’s office, has been charged with 10 counts of principal to simple escape and malfeasance in office, according to a Tuesday morning statement from Attorney General Liz Murrill’s office.
Murrill said Williams turned the water off in the cell the inmates escaped from, and that instead of reporting the inmates, he helped them.
Williams told police that the escapees threatened to “shank” him if he didn’t aid them in their breakout and turn the water off, an arrest affidavit stated.
“By turning off the water to cell 6 bottom in the 1D dorm, Williams willfully and maliciously assisted with the escape of the 10 inmates. With the water being turned off, the inmates were able to successfully make good on their escapes. Williams admitted to agents he committed the acts after he was directed to do so by one of the inmates who escaped, Antoine Massey,” the affidavit stated.
According to the affidavit, Williams was seen on a video surveillance camera talking with two of the inmates who escaped. Williams told police that one of the inmates, Derrick Groves, tried to take his phone and get him to “bring a book with cash app information to his cousin in the next pod over.”
Click here to read the affidavit.
He also told police that one of the escaped inmates tried to take his phone and “get him to bring a book with cash app information,” according to the affidavit.
Murrill said Williams’ total bond was set at $1.1 million, $100,000 for each charge he’s facing.
“If you are helping any of the escaped inmates in any way, you too will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law!” Murrill said.
The sheriff’s office did not immediately return a comment request.
Sterling Williams is accused of helping 10 inmates escape from the Orleans Parish Jail. (Louisiana Department of Justice)
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The release said he was booked into the same jail where he allegedly helped the inmates escape, but that he will be transferred to a different facility.
“This is a continuing investigation, and we will provide updates as often as possible. We will uncover all the facts eventually and anyone who aided and abetted will be prosecuted to the full extent the law allows. 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,” said Murrill.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill is calling for a full investigation of the incident. (Louisiana Attorney General’s Office)
LOUISIANA GOVERNOR BLASTS ‘PROGRESSIVE PROMISES’ AFTER NEW ORLEANS JAIL ESCAPE
Ten inmates escaped from the prison early Friday morning, and six remain on the run as of midday Tuesday.
The most recent arrest came on Monday night.
Gary C. Price, 21, who was in jail awaiting trial on multiple counts of attempted murder, was captured by the Louisiana State Police (LSP).
LSP said Tuesday morning that Price was arrested in New Orleans East by their detectives and a SWAT team. He was flown by helicopter back to jail.
New Orleans jail escapee Gary Price is escorted to a helicopter by police officers who captured him. (Louisiana State Police)
However, the escapee considered most dangerous is Derrick Groves, 27, who remains at large.
He was convicted of killing two men on Mardi Gras in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward in 2018, and was in jail awaiting sentencing.
According to court documents obtained by Fox News Digital, Groves was indicted federally on nine counts of possession of heroin with intent to distribute, eight counts of possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, six counts of obstruction of justice and two counts of drug trafficking conspiracy.
Gary Price was escorted to a helicopter by the Louisiana State Police and returned to jail after more than 72 hours on the run. (Louisiana State Police)
Orleans Parish district attorney says he and his prosecutors fear retribution from escapees
On Monday, Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams said he and his prosecutors feared retribution from Groves and the other escapees. He said that as soon as he learned of the escape, he notified prosecutors who had tried cases against the suspects and coordinated with the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) to get them out of town.
“I am personally afraid, not just for myself but for my lawyers who tried the case against the individual twice,” Williams said, referring to Groves, during a news conference.
Williams reportedly tried Groves twice, and the convicted killer was tried a total of three times in New Orleans.
Orleans Parish DA Jason Williams and Orleans Parish Jail. (AP/Orleans Parish District Attorney)
He was first convicted and given two life sentences for killing two people on Mardi Gras in New Orleans in 2018. One of the convictions was overturned, leading to a second trial that ended in a mistrial. A third trial saw Groves convicted unanimously.
“We were asking for a life sentence of this man, and he is now at large,” Williams said. “Two of the lawyers who I tried that case with, who successfully went forward and [were] able to get a conviction in that case, these lawyers got out of town this weekend with their families out of fear of retribution.”
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Southeast
Murdaugh family housekeeper says white truck ‘haunts’ her from night of murders years later
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The Murdaugh family’s longtime housekeeper, Blanca Turrubiate-Simpson, said a white pickup truck still “haunts” her years after the brutal Lowcountry murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh.
Her book, “Within the House of Murdaugh: Amid a Unique Friendship,” co-authored with Mary Frances Weaver, chronicles not only her close relationship with Maggie Murdaugh but details of the night Maggie and her son Paul were killed.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Turrubiate-Simpson discussed the moment that still troubles her more than four years later, including a white pickup truck she saw near the family’s property off Moselle Road in Colleton County, South Carolina. The property was known simply as “Moselle.”
“The part that really haunts me,” she said, “was not looking into that white truck that was parked out there by the hangar.”
Blanca Turrubiate-Simpson answers questions from prosecutor John Meadors during Alex Murdaugh’s trial for murder at the Colleton County Courthouse Feb. 10, 2023. (Joshua Boucher/Pool via USA Today Network via Imagn)
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She recalled that she initially assumed it belonged to Paul and felt no reason to check it.
“When I heard testimony during the trial where they specified that Paul’s phone was dinging in Okatie, I said, ‘Well, who was driving that truck? Who was driving the white truck? The white F-150?’ That’s one of the main ones that bothers me.”
Disbarred attorney Alex Murdaugh arrives in court in Beaufort, S.C., Sept. 14, 2023. (AP Photo/James Pollard)
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Turrubiate-Simpson said she has often replayed that moment in her mind, wondering why she felt compelled to leave the property through a different gate rather than drive past the kennels.
Maggie and Paul were found dead near dog kennels at the family’s home, police said. The Colleton County Sheriff’s Office said both victims suffered multiple gunshot wounds.
“Perhaps it was like a divine intervention or something that said, ‘No, you need to go out the other gate,’” she said. “I wasn’t worried because the truck looked just like Paul’s truck, so it wasn’t a red flag then.”
A side view of the house at the Murdaugh Moselle property March 1, 2023, in Islandton, S.C. (Andrew J. Whitaker/Pool via USA Today Network via Imagn)
In the book, Turrubiate-Simpson shares several small inconsistencies on the property the morning after the murders that only a longtime confidant would catch.
She told Fox News Digital that Maggie’s car was parked in a spot she had never seen her use.
“Maggie used to always pull up to the left of Paul,” she explained. “But that morning, Maggie’s car was to the right, and it was not close up to the house. It was a little bit further to the right, kind of where the hunting room entrance is. I knew she didn’t put it there.”
The placement didn’t make sense, she said.
“There was no need for her to park there when there were no other vehicles really there.”
Bullet holes in glass at the Murdaugh Moselle property March 1, 2023, in Islandton. (Andrew J. Whitaker/Pool via USA Today Network via Imagn)
‘Oh my God. He did it.’
Turrubiate-Simpson said she had her doubts about Alex Murdaugh’s responsibility in the double murders until bodycam video was played in court.
During the trial, prosecutors played video from Deputy Daniel Greene, the first officer to arrive at the property. Turrubiate-Simpson said her husband encouraged her to watch the video, even though she initially said she had no interest in seeing the crime scene.
“He said, ‘I think you need to watch at least a little bit of it,’” she said.
When the camera briefly passed the family’s black Suburban, she immediately recognized a towel.
“I saw one of the towels that I had washed, that was going to be going back to Edisto [Murdaugh family’s island getaway],” she said. “In a glimpse, something caught my eye.”
Alex Murdaugh talks with defense attorney Jim Griffin during a jury-tampering hearing at the Richland County Judicial Center Jan. 29, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post And Courier via AP, Pool)
She said she immediately asked her husband to rewind.
“And I told my husband, ‘Go back, go back, go back.’ He’s like, ‘What’s going on?’ I said, ‘Go back to the truck, go back to the truck.’ So, he’s steady going back, and I’m thinking, ‘Oh my God.’ I said, ‘He did it.’ And, at that point, my husband said, ‘What are you talking about?’ I said, ‘He did it. That was him.’ I said, ‘That towel was going back to Edisto. I had just washed it and set it on top of the shelf.’ I said, ‘He … he … he did it.’
“To me, that towel being there made no sense unless he grabbed it,” she added, suggesting she believed Alex used the towel during a frantic cleanup as he moved between the house and the kennels.
“His demeanor didn’t match up with the nurturing, loving father that I saw within the home.”
A view from the path toward the house of the kennels at the Murdaugh Moselle property March 1, 2023, in Islandton. (Andrew J. Whitaker/Pool via USA Today Network via Imagn)
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In her book, Turrubiate-Simpson floats a theory that Alex may not have acted alone that night, not in the murders themselves, but in the aftermath.
“My theory in the book is that he had help to clean, possibly setting up,” she told Fox News Digital.
The distance between the main house and the kennels, she said, plays a critical role.
“It takes a good few minutes to get back and forth. In the time that they said it was done, there’s just not enough time.”
Turrubiate-Simpson said her theories are rooted in her intimate knowledge of the family’s routines, noting that “there’s no evidence” that she’s aware of suggesting that Alex had help.
“Within the House of Murdaugh: Amid a Unique Friendship, Blanca and Maggie” is a 2024 book by Blanca Turrubiate-Simpson that offers a personal account of her experiences with the Murdaugh family. (Palmetto Publishing)
‘Because of Paul and Maggie’
In her memoir, Turrubiate-Simpson said her purpose was not to fuel speculation, but to remind the world of Paul and Maggie’s lives.
“I wrote this book because of Paul and Maggie,” she said. “I don’t want her forgotten. When they hear his name, I’m tired of hearing just his name. The two victims have been forgotten in all of this.”
A possible new trial
The South Carolina Supreme Court is scheduled to hear Murdaugh’s appeal Feb. 11.
Murdaugh’s team requested a new trial, arguing he did not receive a fair trial because of alleged jury tampering by Colleton County Court Clerk Becky Hill.
Alex Murdaugh, right, is shown here with his family. (Fox News)
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“I think we all deserve a fair trial,” Turrubiate-Simpson said. “If they determine that he did not receive one, then we just must follow through. It’s the law.”
Maggie and Paul Murdaugh’s headstones mark their final resting places in Hampton. (Michael M. DeWitt Jr./USA Today Network via Imagn)
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Turrubiate-Simpson said she doesn’t plan to watch Hulu’s recent dramatization of the Murdaugh saga.
“I’ve watched some documentaries,” she said. “But I don’t feel the need to watch the Hulu series because I lived it. There’s no point in watching something that I already lived.”
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Southeast
Suspect in second Charlotte light rail stabbing ID’d as twice deported illegal immigrant with criminal history
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Court records obtained by Fox News Digital revealed a man charged in a violent stabbing on a Charlotte, North Carolina, light rail on Friday is a criminal illegal immigrant previously deported multiple times.
Oscar Solarzano, 33, of Honduras, was arrested in the stabbing and is charged with attempted first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon with serious injury, breaking/entering a motor vehicle, carrying a concealed weapon and intoxicated/disruptive behavior, according to multiple Departement of Homeland Security (DHS) sources and arrest warrants obtained by Fox News Digital.
Bond was not set due to Solarzano’s immigration status, according to a release order filed in Mecklenburg County.
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He was booted from the country by the Trump administration in March 2018 on a deportation order and reentered illegally during the Biden administration at the Texas border in March 2021, DHS sources said.
Solarzano was deported a second time by the Biden administration and reentered illegally as a got-away at an unknown time and location.
Oscar Solarzano, 33, was arrested in a stabbing on a Charlotte, N.C., light rail. (Mecklenburg County Jail)
At about 4:49 p.m. Friday, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) officers responded to a call regarding assault with a deadly weapon.
When they arrived, they found the victim, identified as Kenyon Kareem-Shemar Dobie, with a stab wound, according to warrants.
CMPD noted Dobie was in critical but stable condition when he was taken to a hospital.
A suspect has been arrested in a stabbing in Charlotte, N.C. (WJZY)
Prior to the attack, warrants allege, Solarzano broke into a railroad car “with the intent to commit a felony,” while carrying a large fixed-blade knife.
While intoxicated, he challenged Dobie to a fight, cursing and shouting at others using “unintelligible and slurred words,” according to court documents.
Solarzano has a prior conviction for robbery in the U.S. and prior arrests for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, resisting arrest and false ID, DHS sources said.
Court records indicate he had known aliases, including Solarzano-Garcia, Oscar Herardo and Kevin Garcia.
Solarzano has a scheduled court appearance Dec. 8 and will later be released into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, according to a release order.
He is being provided with a Spanish interpreter, according to arrest records.
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Iryna Zarutska curls up in fear as a man looms over her during a disturbing attack Aug. 22, on a Charlotte, N.C., light rail train. (NewsNation via Charlotte Area Transit System)
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The stabbing attack comes months after Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, 23, was fatally stabbed on a LYNX Blue Line light rail while on her way home from work. Decarlos Brown Jr., 34, who is accused of killing Zarutska, was charged with violence against a railroad carrier and mass transportation system resulting in death, a capital offense under federal law.
President Donald Trump reacted to the news on Truth Social Saturday, saying, “Another stabbing by an Illegal Migrant in Charlotte, North Carolina. What’s going on in Charlotte? Democrats are destroying it, like everything else, piece by piece!!!”
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy also chimed in, calling out Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles in an X post.
“Apparently, the death of Iryna Zarutska wasn’t enough. What is it going to take for @CLTMayor to remove violent criminals off the streets and protect her constituents?” Duffy wrote. “The time to act is NOW.”
The Department of Homeland Security, ICE and CMPD did not immediately respond to additional inquiries from Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital’s Emma Bussey contributed to this report.
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Southeast
Louisiana manhunt continues as dangerous inmate charged with attempted murder remains on the run
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Louisiana authorities are continuing to search for the last of three inmates who broke through a deteriorating wall on Wednesday and escaped a jail about 130 miles northwest of New Orleans.
The three inmates, identified as Keith Eli, 24, of Opelousas; Johnathan Jevon Joseph, 24, of Opelousas; and Joseph Allen Harrington, 26, of Melville, allegedly used sheets and other items to scale an outer wall, drop onto the roof of the first floor and lower themselves to the ground, according to a statement from the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Harrington killed himself with a hunting rifle Thursday after a standoff with police at a home in Port Barre, The Associated Press reported.
Prior to his escape, St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office records show, he was charged with nine felonies, including home invasion and aggravated assault with a firearm.
Keith Eli, left; Johnathan Jevon Joseph, center; and Joseph Allen Harrington, inmates who escaped from a Louisiana prison. (St. Landry Parish Sheriff via Facebook)
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Police nabbed the second escapee, Joseph, the next day after a foot chase.
Sheriff’s officials said a tip led deputies to a home where he was hiding out, according to the report. He surrendered after fleeing to a nearby storage shed.
Joseph, also a convicted felon, was previously charged with principal first-degree rape, along with drug and gun offenses.
The inmates escaped St. Landry Parish Jail Wednesday in Louisiana. (Google Maps)
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The third missing inmate, Eli, remains missing and was charged with attempted second-degree murder.
“We would prefer that he surrender himself peaceably, but we will not rest until he is captured,” St. Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby J. Guidroz wrote in a statement obtained by the AP.
In May, 10 prisoners escaped a minimum-custody New Orleans jail after removing a toilet from a wall inside a cell and crawling through it.
Video cameras in the prison captured the brazen escape, with footage showing the group scaling a fence, using blankets to protect themselves from barbed wire and running across an interstate to a nearby neighborhood where they changed clothes.
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Inmates wrote messages, including, “To Easy LOL” and “WE INNOCENT,” among others, near the hole they used to flee the jail.
The last remaining fugitive, a four-time convicted killer, was arrested five months after the escape after a standoff with authorities in Atlanta.
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Three jail employees have been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, Fox News Digital previously reported.
An internal investigation has been initiated, and the jail supervisory staff will be providing a comprehensive report, according to Guidroz.
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