After a daring jailbreak that startled New Orleans, convicted killer Derrick Groves is still at large. This is nearly two months after the jailbreak.
As was previously reported by The Dallas Express, Groves, who is 28 years old, escaped from the New Orleans Justice Center on May 16 along with nine other inmates by slipping through a hole that was concealed under a jail toilet. Groves appears to have disappeared into the shadows, while the other New Orleans escapees were located and brought to justice.
“For my family, it’s been like reliving a constant nightmare,” Jasmine Groves, the escapee’s aunt, said. She also mentioned that the family had been questioned multiple times and was still under intense surveillance by the authorities. In addition to this, she made a public appeal for her nephew to surrender and show himself to authorities.
A strange and unprecedented online betting frenzy was generated by the jailbreak.
Polymarket, a betting site that is based on cryptocurrency, gave users the opportunity to wager on whether or not the five fugitives who were still at large as of the end of May would be apprehended, as well as to speculate on who will be apprehended next. The odds were not uniform: Groves had a 43% probability of being captured at the time, Jermaine Donald had a 32% chance, and Massey, who had already been recaptured, had a 24% chance.
With almost $1,300 being wagered on Lenton Vanburen alone, the total amount of money wagered was in the thousands of dollars. As of the time of this publication, a post from Polymarket that promoted “prisoner parlays” earned more than 4.4 million views across various social media platforms.
Groves had every reasonable cause to vanish for good, in contrast to some of his fellow escapees who were facing charges that were less serious.
In a shooting incident that occurred at a Mardi Gras block party, he was found guilty of murdering two individuals with an assault rifle. The incident resulted in the deaths of two young men and sustained injuries to several more. Because of this, Groves was facing the possibility of spending the rest of his life behind bars without the possibility of release.
It is believed by the authorities that Groves, who is generally referred to as “Woo” on the streets, is receiving assistance from his family and friends. It is possible that this assistance is the reason he has been able to keep one step ahead of the manhunt. In the days that followed the escape, authorities got information that suggested Groves was hiding in the Lower Ninth Ward. This is the same neighborhood where he grew up, and it is also the same city that is still tormented by the scars that Hurricane Katrina left behind.
Groves’ descent into violent behavior started at a young age. After dropping out of school in the ninth grade, he began selling heroin, which led to him being charged with federal drug offenses when he was a teenager. It is alleged by the prosecution that he was involved in at least four homicides between the years 2019 and 2024. Even in court, Groves shown little remorse, and at one point he even yelled profanities at a woman who was grieving the loss of her nephew, whom he had slain.
As of the time of writing, a reward of fifty thousand dollars is being given for information that leads to the capture or location of Groves, the only New Orleans escapee who is still on the run.
