Orleans Parish Sheriff Just Dropped an Update on the NOLA Jailbreak ... and It's Political and Personal

Anyone who's been following the New Orleans jailbreak story on the 10 inmates that broke out last Friday knows it has contained several unusual twists and turns, with an update that same evening in a press conference, which featured an onslaught of embarassing revelations, including still-looming questions on why no one caught on to the inmates' absence for almost five hours--plus, the fact that it was looking like an inside job. Now, there's some political fallout from the incident, which I'll bring you in a minute.

Since the first presser, there's been a remarkable chain of events. On Tuesday, one maintenance worker at the prison was taken into custody. Sterling Williams admitted to shutting off the water to the pod's toilet--something that ended up giving the inmates access to a wall they then made a hole in to pull off their escape:

NEW ORLEANS — (AP) — Ten men who broke out of a New Orleans jail last week clogged a toilet to get the water shut off so that they could escape through a hole behind it, a lawyer for a maintenance worker who is charged with helping them said Wednesday.
The worker, Sterling Williams, did not know about the men's plan and did not allow the inmates to cut a pipe behind the toilet to create an opening for their escape, attorney Michael Kennedy told The Associated Press.
The defense attorney laid out a very different narrative than that presented by authorities a day earlier, when Williams, 33, was arrested.
Authorities have said an inmate instructed Williams to turn off the water to a toilet, leading to one of the largest jailbreaks in recent U.S. history. Five of the men remained at large Wednesday.

Williams' lawyer said he was duped into thinking he was just there to unclog the toilet. It's unclear whether that's the case or not yet. Now, in the latest on the hunt for the escapees, we learned on Wednesday that at least two other employees at the facility were arrested for aiding the escapees:

The Louisiana State Police announced on Wednesday that 32-year-old Cortnie Harris and 38-year-old Corvanntay Baptiste were arrested and charged with felony counts of being accessories after the fact. They were both booked at the Plaquemines Parish Detention Center, officials said.
According to the state police, an investigation found that, before the escape, Harris was allegedly in contact by phone with an escapee who remains on the run.
"Furthermore, investigators determined that Harris transported two escapees, who remain at large, to multiple locations in New Orleans," police said.

The report continued:

Baptiste, according to the state police, was also in contact by phone and social media with escapee Corey Boyd, who was captured by police on Tuesday night.
Authorities alleged that Baptiste "helped facilitate getting him [Boyd] food while he was hiding in a residence."

Nearly six days after the escape, five of the 10 men have been captured; meanwhile, three of those still on the loose are truly dangerous men--either charged with homicide or convicted murderers. In another update, we're starting to see there's some personal and political fallout from the lapses at the prison--as the embattled Orleans Parish sheriff just announced she's suspending her reelection campaign on Tuesday:

In a statement Tuesday afternoon, Hutson accepted blame for the breakout after a maintenance worker at the Orleans Justice Center, where the breakout occurred, was arrested on charges alleging he helped facilitate the escape.
Hutson also announced that four other jail staff have been suspended and are under investigation for possible involvement in the jailbreak.
"I take full responsibility for what happened. This breach happened under my leadership, and it is my responsibility to ensure it is addressed with urgency and transparency," Hutson said in her statement on Tuesday.
"To date, we have suspended staff, made an arrest, and launched comprehensive internal and external investigations," she added. "We are also fully cooperating with the independent investigation led by the Louisiana Attorney General, and we have provided full access to all records, surveillance footage, and facility documentation."

By the way, in ABC News' report linked above, they included this information on the sheriff's historic ascension to the role:

Hutson was elected Orleans Parish Sheriff in 2021 and took office in 2022, according to the sheriff's office website, making history as the first Black woman to serve as sheriff in Louisiana and the first woman to serve as sheriff in New Orleans.

We'll see if the pressure forces Hutson or other law enforcement officials working at the prison to step aside in time. As this is a developing story, RedState will provide updates as more information becomes available.

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