Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill announced on Tuesday that a maintenance worker at a New Orleans prison has been arrested for allegedly aiding in the escape of 10 inmates last week, some of whom are facing murder charges.
In a statement on Tuesday, Murrill identified the worker as Sterling Williams, 33 years old. He admitted to investigators that he cut off the water supply to a cell at the request of one of the inmates. This allowed the escapees to dismantle the sink and toilet from the wall, creating a hole through which they escaped.
The statement revealed that Williams not only failed to report the incident to the prison but also acted on the inmates’ request, “allowing the inmates to carry out their plan and successfully escape.”
According to the arrest affidavit, Williams stated that one inmate threatened to harm him with a “homemade weapon” if he did not comply.
It is unclear whether Williams has hired a lawyer at this time.
Williams, who worked in maintenance at the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, was arrested on Monday. Lester Duhe, the spokesperson for the Attorney General, stated that the investigation is still ongoing.
Williams is being held at the Orleans Parish jail and has been charged with 10 counts of simple escape (refers to leaving a place of legal detention or confinement without permission, but without violence, threats, or significant damage to property) and malfeasance.
Authorities have reported that since the escape, four inmates have been apprehended, while the search for the remaining six is ongoing.
Officials noted that the Orleans Parish Justice Center primarily detains individuals awaiting trial or sentencing and discovered the disappearance of the inmates aged between 19 and 42 during a routine headcount last Friday morning.
Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson stated last Friday that the escapees broke out around 1 a.m. by first derailing the sliding door of their cell, then dismantling the toilet and sink, and breaking through the wall to flee.
She mentioned that security footage showed the men running across a loading dock, scaling a wall, and crossing a nearby highway to escape.
Williams has been squarely blamed for the incident.
According to the affidavit, “If the water was still running, inmates would not have been able to remove the sink in the cell, cut off the remaining water supply pipes, and the escape plan would not have been successful.”
On Friday, May 16, when the Orleans Parish Justice Center prison staff conducted their morning headcount, they discovered the inmates missing. Subsequently, the authorities swiftly locked down the entire prison and initiated a manhunt for the escapees. The majority of the escaped inmates, as per the police list, were incarcerated for serious offenses such as murder, assault, burglary, and illegal possession of weapons.
(This article references reporting from Reuters)