OPPLOUSAS, La. (AP) — A manhunt is underway for the last of three inmates who escaped from a Louisiana jail after dismantling parts of a crumbling wall.
Officials have disclosed that Keith Eli, age 24, remains at large three days after he and two accomplices made their escape from a southwest Louisiana correctional facility. According to Sheriff Bobby J. Guidroz, Eli was previously held on charges including second-degree murder.
Authorities confirmed that one of the escapees, 24-year-old Johnathan Jevon Joseph, surrendered Friday after a brief chase. Police received a tip about his location, found him hiding in a shed, and he gave up without resistance. Joseph was charged with rape and other serious offenses.
Meanwhile, the third escapee, 26-year-old Joseph Allen Harrington, tragically took his own life with a rifle during a standoff with police after they urged him to come out from a residence. Harrington was facing multiple felony charges at the time of his escape.
This incident is not isolated; in May, ten inmates had escaped from a New Orleans jail, prompting a multi-state search that lasted for months before their recapture.
Sheriff Guidroz stated that the inmates exploited a deteriorating section of the jail's upper wall, gradually removing mortar to slip through. Once free, they used sheets to scale the outer wall, drop onto a roof, and lower themselves to the ground. Investigations into jail security protocols and the escape route are currently underway.
