New Orleans jail mistakenly releases inmate, two months after 10 escape

Roughly two months after 10 inmates escaped from a New Orleans jail, a “human error” resulted in the release of another inmate by mistake. On Friday, July 25, New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick and Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson held a press conference to address why Khalil Bryan, 30, was mistakenly released from Orleans Justice Center.

‘Human error’ leads to inmate’s release

“I want to make a sincere apology to the people of New Orleans. The mistaken release of Khalil Bryan was a serious error, and as sheriff, I take full responsibility,” Hutson said, adding, “Human error led to a breakdown in the verification process.”

According to local media outlet WWL, Bryan was released from prison due to a clerical error after he was mistaken for another inmate with a similar last name. Officials have not said when Bryan left the jail.

“This should not have happened,” Hutson said. “It was a failure of internal processes, and the public has every right to expect better.”

During the press conference, Kirkpatrick made a direct appeal to Bryan and anyone who might know of his whereabouts or is potentially helping him hide.

“Even though it was a mistaken release from custody, you are on notice, you are a fugitive,” Kirkpatrick said. “I’m gonna ask that you turn yourself in. You and others who may be harboring him at this moment will be subject to prosecution yourself because you are on notice.”

Bryan was being held on multiple charges, including possession of stolen property, possession of drug paraphernalia and resisting an officer. Additionally, he had an active warrant for aggravated assault with a firearm, domestic abuse, child endangerment and home invasion.

‘Ongoing systemic issues’ at Orleans Justice Center

In a statement, the district attorney’s office said, “This is a deeply troubling incident that underscores the ongoing systemic issues surrounding the exercise of custody and control over detained individuals” –– an apparent reference to the 10 inmates who escaped from Orleans Justice Center in May.

To date, nine of those inmates have been captured. However, authorities are still trying to track down one, convicted murderer, Derrick Groves.  

Authorities said the 10 inmates fled the jail by yanking open a faulty cell door inside Orleans Parish and squeezing through a hole behind a toilet before scaling a barbed-wire fence. Officials discovered the men escaped hours later, during a morning headcount.

Multiple people have been arrested for allegedly helping the former fugitives, among them a maintenance worker at the jail who’s accused of turning off the water to the toilet where the hole was. However, the maintenance worker’s lawyer denied that their client knowingly aided the escapees.

Along with help they may have gotten on both the inside and the outside, several lapses in the Orleans Parish Justice Center’s security may also have contributed to the escape. As such, Hutson has come under fire for failing to implement federally mandated improvements at the jail, such as regular security checks.

Hutson, who was elected sheriff in 2021, was recently held in contempt of court for ignoring an order to transport inmates to court on weekends and holidays. She’s also in the midst of a re-election campaign, which one pollster described as “death by a dozen wounds.”