- Two violent crime inmates escaped Louisiana jail.
- They removed deteriorating wall to exit.
- Scaled another wall using bed sheets.
After being located, a third prisoner who participated in the breakout committed suicide.
It was only Louisiana's most recent daring jail break. Ten prisoners managed to escape a New Orleans jail in May by crawling through a hole beneath a toilet. All ten prisoners weren't apprehended until five months later, after the escape crime scene was found with a note that said
"To Easy LoL,"
officials pointed fingers at the perpetrators of the bold escape, and a multi-state search was conducted.
Three prisoners were involved in the escape on Wednesday morning from the St. Landry parish jail in Opelousas, Louisiana.
The convicts
"discovered a degrading part of an upper wall area and, over time, removed the mortar allowing them to remove concrete blocks and provide their exit,"
according to Sheriff Bobby J. Guidroz, who is in charge of the facility in question, which is located approximately 130 miles (209 km) northwest of New Orleans.
According to a news release from Guidroz, the prisoners then used "sheets and other items" to scale the exterior wall and "drop on to" the first floor roof before "lowering themselves to the ground."
There were no immediate details provided regarding the escape. According to Guidroz, an internal investigation will be conducted.
The two fugitive prisoners who are still at large were named by the sheriff's office as Opelousas resident Keith Eli, 24, who was charged with second-degree attempted murder, and Opelousas resident Jonathan Jevon Joseph, 24, who was charged with multiple offenses, including principal to first-degree rape.
The Port Barre, Louisiana, police chief, Deon Boudreaux, stated over the phone that the third escaper, Joseph Allen Harrington, 26, of Melville, who was charged with multiple felonies, including home invasion, committed suicide after being apprehended.
An officer saw the black e-bike at a nearby residence on Thursday after a tipster who knew Harrington reported that he was seen pushing one. After urging Harrington to leave the residence over a loudspeaker, the police heard gunfire.
Maj. Mark LeBlanc, a spokesman for the St. Landry sheriff's department, stated that anyone with enough time and chance will attempt to break out of the facility, although he was unaware of any comparable breaches in the past.
“These three were just a little more creative than in years past,”
he said.
LeBlanc cautioned locals to lock up their houses and cars because there are no reliable signs that the remaining fugitives have left the parish, which is Louisiana's word for county.
“They’re charged with violent felonies and we know they’re desperate to get away,”
he said.
He stressed that anyone who aids the fugitives will face legal action.
What is the current status of the manhunt and roadblocks?
Keith Eli and Johnathan Jevon Joseph remain at large as of December 6, 2025, with the St. Landry Parish Sheriff's Office manhunt ongoing amid expansive quests in Opelousas and girding Acadia Parish areas; no roadblocks are presently active following original setups on December 3- 4.
Sheriff's deputies, state police, and copters continue canvassing homes, forestland, and aqueducts using K9 units and drones, with$ 10,000 prices offered; Eli( 24, tried murder suspect) and Joseph( 24, rape star) considered fortified/ dangerous, last seen in dark apparelpost-escape.
Original leaguers on pastoral roads near the jail were lifted after Harrington's recovery, shifting to targeted tips(337-948-6516) and public alert without wide dislocations; jail conservation review underway amid review of" demeaning" conditions enabling the rout.