Derrick Groves back in Louisiana, ending months-long flight from NOLA jail

New Orleans jail escapee Derrick Groves to appear in Atlanta court Thursday

Derrick Groves is expected in court Thursday for an extradition hearing in Fulton County. The New Orleans jail escapee was arrested in Atlanta Wednesday after being on the run for almost five months, according to officials. Authorities said Groves escaped from the Orleans Parish Justice Center in Louisiana on May 16, 2025, along with nine other inmates.

BATRON ROUGE, La. - The New Orleans jail escapee caught this week in Atlanta is back behind bars in Louisiana.

What we know:

Photos of Derrick Groves that were posted to the Louisiana State Police’s social media show the former fugitive from justice being led from a plane at the Baton Rouge airport to a helicopter.

That helicopter took Groves directly to a secured correctional facility, where he will remain until he faces a judge on his escape charges.

This time there was no kiss for the camera as the 27-year-old convicted murderer did when he was captured at a home along Honeysuckle Lane on Wednesday.

The backstory:

Just a day prior, Groves was sitting in a Fulton County courtroom. He would tell the judge he wanted to "go home," waiving extradition back to Louisiana. 

Groves was arrested in a raid on Wednesday led by the U.S. Marshals Service regional fugitive task force.

Derrick Groves: From daring escape to dramatic capture

The final inmate wanted after a brazen escape from a New Orleans jail in May has reportedly been arrested after a tense SWAT standoff in Atlanta.

Authorities said Groves escaped from the Orleans Parish Justice Center in Louisiana on May 16, 2025, along with nine other inmates. It was one of the state’s most high-profile jailbreaks in decades. While most of the escapees were captured within weeks, Groves had been on the run for nearly five months.