By Canadian Press

Maintenance worker says inmate threatened to shank him if he didn’t assist in New Orleans jail break

May 20, 2025 | 10:47 AM

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A New Orleans jail maintenance worker has been arrested on accusations that he turned water off to a toilet covering a hole in the wall that 10 men squeezed through to break out of jail.

The inmates, six of whom remain on the lam, pulled off the daring escape early Friday by yanking open a faulty cell door, moving the toilet and slithering through a hole. Graffiti on the wall included the message: “To Easy LoL” with an arrow pointing to the gap.

The escape occurred while the lone guard monitoring them went to get food. It wasn’t clear Tuesday if that guard was among the three suspended last week or was being investigated for what officials have called an “inside job.”

The maintenance worker, Sterling Williams, 33, admitted to law enforcement that one of the escapees “advised him to turn the water off in the cell” before the men slipped away through the hole in the wall, the Attorney General’s office said in a statement.

In an arrest affidavit, Williams said one of the inmates who later escaped had threatened to “shank” him if he did not turn off the water. In addition, ahead of the jailbreak another man tried to take Williams’ phone and attempted to get him to bring a book with cash app information.

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Authorities say by turning off the water, Williams “willfully and maliciously assisted with the escape.”

“If the inmates removed the sink in the cell and disconnected the rest of the plumbing with the water still on, the plan to escape would not have been successful and potentially flooded the cell, drawing attention to their actions,” the affidavit read.

Williams is charged with 10 counts of principle to simple escape and malfeasance in office. The Associated Press was unable to immediately locate Williams’ attorney.

Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson has said she believes the jail break was an inside job and last week told reporters her agency had suspended three employees pending an investigation.

“It’s almost impossible, not completely, but almost impossible for anybody to get out of this facility without help,” she said of the Orleans Justice Center, a correctional facility where 1,400 people are being held.

Since the escape three sheriff’s employees have been placed on suspension pending the outcome of an investigation. It was not immediately clear if Sterling was one of those employees.

Following a meeting with Hutson, a judge and other law enforcement agencies on Monday, Attorney General Liz Murrill told reporters that the sheriff has been “devastated” by the escape and that her own employees may have aided in the jailbreak.

“I think the sheriff wants to know who she can trust in her prison, and so do we,” Murrill said.

At least one of the steel bars protecting plumbing fixtures “appeared to have been intentionally cut using a tool,” the sheriff’s office stated.

The absence of the inmates, many charged with or convicted of violent offenses such as murder, was not reported for hours. Four have since been apprehended and six remain at large.

Since the escape, Hutson has pointed to long-standing deficiencies such as faulty locks and staffing shortages. But a growing number of state and local officials have said blame for the escape rests squarely on her for failing her responsibility to keep inmates locked up.

Jack Brook, The Associated Press