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Manhunt Focuses on Final Escapee After Wall Breach at Louisiana Parish Jail

The escape has prompted an internal review, with parish leaders questioning whether structural decay or staffing failures allowed it.

Overview

  • Authorities are actively searching for 24-year-old Keith Eli, jailed on an attempted second-degree murder charge, and have urged the public not to approach him and to report tips to local law enforcement or Crime Stoppers.
  • Investigators recaptured 24-year-old Johnathan Jevon Joseph after following a tip to a residence, while 26-year-old Joseph Allen Harrington died by suicide when officers located him.
  • Officials say the three removed mortar and concrete blocks from a degrading upper wall and used sheets and other items to scale the exterior, drop to a roof, and lower themselves to the ground.
  • Sheriff Bobby J. Guidroz has launched an internal investigation into the breakout, as Parish President Jessie Bellard asserts the jail is structurally sound and points to understaffing and training issues.
  • The incident comes during a year of high-profile Louisiana jailbreaks, including a May escape of 10 New Orleans inmates that required a months-long, multi-state effort to resolve.