Derrick Groves is a New Orleans man convicted of a double murder on Mardi Gras Day 2018 who, after escaping the Orleans Parish jail in May 2025 and spending five months on the run, was captured in Atlanta and sentenced on December 12, 2025 to two consecutive life terms plus 100 years in state prison.1WLOX. Orleans Parish Jail Escapee Sentenced to Two Life Terms Plus 100 Years
The 2018 Mardi Gras Shooting
On the evening of February 13, 2018, around 8:18 p.m., gunfire tore through the 5400 block of St. Claude Avenue in the Lower Ninth Ward. Police said Groves, then 21, and co-defendant Kendall Barnes, 22, opened fire with assault-style rifles on a car carrying three people. Jamar Robinson, 26, and Byron Jackson, 21, were killed. Three others were wounded, including one occupant of the vehicle and two bystanders on a nearby sidewalk.2WWL-TV. Two Charged in 2018 Mardi Gras Mass Shooting That Killed 2, Wounded 3
Robinson left behind a two-year-old son. His mother, Judy Jones Robinson, told reporters, “It broke my heart. He took my baby away from me.”3Fox 8 Live. Family Mourns Death of Young Man Killed Mardi Gras Night in Lower 9 A grand jury indicted both men on two counts of second-degree murder, three counts of attempted second-degree murder, and two counts of obstruction of justice in a homicide investigation.2WWL-TV. Two Charged in 2018 Mardi Gras Mass Shooting That Killed 2, Wounded 3
Conviction, Reversal, and Retrial
Groves and Barnes were tried together in October 2019 and both were convicted. The convictions did not hold. In 2021, the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal vacated the murder and attempted murder counts against both men because the jury verdicts had not been unanimous, applying the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in Ramos v. Louisiana. The case was sent back for retrial.4FindLaw. Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit
Groves was retried before Judge Dennis Waldron. On October 18, 2024, a unanimous Orleans Parish jury convicted him on two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder.5NOLA.com. New Orleans Jail Escape Derrick Groves Life Sentence Murder
Groves’s record extends beyond the Mardi Gras case. Prosecutors have said he was involved in four killings during an 18-month stretch. He pleaded guilty to federal drug trafficking charges in 2019 and later pleaded guilty to manslaughter in two separate fatal shootings, for which he still awaits sentencing.6CBS News. Derrick Groves, New Orleans Jail Escapee, Life Sentence, Double Murder7WAFB. Derrick Groves Sentenced to Life in Ninth Ward Shooting
The Orleans Parish Jail Escape
Groves was awaiting sentencing when, on May 16, 2025, he and nine other inmates broke out of the Orleans Parish Justice Center. The escapees climbed through a hole in the wall behind a toilet, scaled a barbed-wire fence, and crossed an interstate. Staff did not realize they were gone for several hours; the breach was discovered during a routine morning head count. The escapees left behind graffiti that read “To Easy LOL.”8NPR. Derrick Groves Captured New Orleans Jailbreak9ABC News. 6th of New Inmates Captured After Week on Run
Jail maintenance worker Sterling Williams was arrested for allegedly shutting off water to the cell toilet so the wall behind it could be breached. He was charged with 10 counts of principal to simple escape and malfeasance in office, with bond set at $1.1 million.10Fox News. Louisiana Jail Worker Arrested Allegedly Helping 10 Inmates Escape Orleans Parish Facility At least 16 people were eventually charged with helping the fugitives.11Fox 8 Live. Escaped New Orleans Derrick Groves Cornered in Atlanta Groves’s girlfriend, Darriana Burton, was arrested on June 9, 2025 on a felony charge of conspiracy to commit simple escape; prosecutors alleged she coordinated communications on his behalf. A judge set her bond at $2.5 million.12Fox 8 Live. Girlfriend of Escaped Murderer Derrick Groves Arrested
Nine of the ten escapees were recaptured within weeks. Groves was the last one still at large.13Corrections1. New Orleans Jail Escape Timeline of 10 Inmate Recaptures Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams said prosecutors on the Groves case fled town with their families out of fear of retaliation while he remained free.10Fox News. Louisiana Jail Worker Arrested Allegedly Helping 10 Inmates Escape Orleans Parish Facility
Capture in Atlanta
A tip submitted to Crime Stoppers Greater New Orleans over the summer pointed investigators to the Atlanta area. On October 8, 2025, a multi-agency team including U.S. Marshals, Atlanta Police SWAT, Louisiana State Police, and several federal agencies surrounded a residence near Campbellton Road and Honeysuckle Lane in southwest Atlanta. After gas was deployed into the house repeatedly, a K-9 unit located Groves hiding in a narrow crawl space that authorities said had been modified to help him evade detection. He was taken into custody peacefully after a brief standoff.14CBS News. How New Orleans Inmate Derrick Groves Was Captured After 5 Months15WDSU. New Orleans Inmate Derrick Groves Captured
The next day, Groves appeared in an Atlanta court and waived extradition, telling the judge he wanted to return to Louisiana. He faced no additional charges in Georgia. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said she was weighing whether to upgrade his escape charge from simple escape to aggravated escape based on evidence found at the capture scene.16Fox 8 Live. Derrick Groves Waives Extradition in Atlanta Court
The December 2025 Sentence
On December 12, 2025, ad-hoc Judge Dennis Waldron imposed two mandatory life sentences on the second-degree murder counts and two 50-year sentences on the attempted second-degree murder counts. All four sentences run consecutively.1WLOX. Orleans Parish Jail Escapee Sentenced to Two Life Terms Plus 100 Years
Prosecutors said Groves laughed and made faces at the victims’ families during the hearing. A prosecutor called him “a sociopath who continued to rain down terror on the Lower Ninth Ward” and said the moment was “not about the attention surrounding Groves, but about the lives that were taken.”17WDSU. New Orleans Derrick Groves Mardi Gras Killing Sentence Judge Waldron called Groves a “fugitive from justice” and told him he would “live a lonely life in state prison.” Byron Jackson’s sister told the court that her brother’s death “shattered something inside her that will never heal.” District Attorney Jason Williams said children in the neighborhood had been kept out of parks for months because their families feared retaliation while Groves was on the run.1WLOX. Orleans Parish Jail Escapee Sentenced to Two Life Terms Plus 100 Years
What Is Still Pending
As of early 2026, Groves still awaits sentencing in two separate manslaughter cases in which he had already entered guilty pleas.7WAFB. Derrick Groves Sentenced to Life in Ninth Ward Shooting He also faces escape-related charges from the May 2025 jailbreak, which the state indicated could be upgraded to aggravated escape.16Fox 8 Live. Derrick Groves Waives Extradition in Atlanta Court No appeal of his 2024 murder convictions has been publicly reported.
Fallout at the Sheriff’s Office
A Louisiana Bureau of Investigation probe into the jailbreak found “negligence, deficiencies in staffing, supervision, security protocols, and internal controls” at the Orleans Parish Justice Center. Investigators found that a staffer assigned to a control room had left for a meal break, leaving inmates unmonitored. Federal monitor reports identified housing units with no staff in their control rooms, inconsistent security rounds, and supervisors frequently absent during evenings and weekends.18Fox 8 Live. Warrants Accuse Orleans Sheriff of Repeatedly Ignoring Jail Warnings Before Inmate Escape
On April 29, 2026, an Orleans Parish special grand jury indicted outgoing Sheriff Susan Hutson on 30 felony counts, including 14 counts of malfeasance in office, four counts of conspiracy to commit malfeasance, and charges of filing or maintaining false public records and obstruction of justice. The indictment alleged she had received repeated prior warnings about staffing and security from federal monitors, the Department of Corrections, and the Louisiana Legislative Auditor. Her chief financial officer, Bianka Brown, was indicted on 20 related counts.19Fox 8 Live. Outgoing Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson, Aide Indicted on Malfeasance, Obstruction Charges20ABC News. Sheriff Indicted on 30 Felony Counts After 2025 New Orleans Jail Escape Hutson posted a $300,000 bond and surrendered her passport. Her term ended on May 4, 2026, when her elected successor, Michelle Woodfork, was sworn in.18Fox 8 Live. Warrants Accuse Orleans Sheriff of Repeatedly Ignoring Jail Warnings Before Inmate Escape