Two Women Arrested for Helping Inmate Escape from Orleans Jail

Two women have been arrested for helping 10 inmates escape from the Orleans Justice Center, authorities confirmed. The suspects, identified as Casey Smith, 30, and Cortnie Harris, 32, are accused of assisting with a jailbreak that occurred on May 16th.

Their arrests followed the recapture of three escapees: 42-year-old Jermaine Donald, 31-year-old Leo Tate, and an unidentified inmate.

Investigators discovered that Cortnie Harris was in a relationship with Leo Tate and was the last person he contacted before the escape. According to police, Tate instructed her to wait outside the facility at 11 p.m. and to remain on standby for his call.

During interrogation, Harris revealed that she received a call from a number she didn’t recognize, which turned out to be from Tate. He gave her an address on the 1700 block of South Dupre Street and asked to be picked up.

She arrived at the location with Casey Smith in a rented Buick. The two women then picked up Tate, Donald, and a third man. Harris told police they first drove the group to the 4200 block of Dale Street, then to an unidentified address in Algiers. Eventually, they returned to Dale Street, where the men got out and left on foot.

At first, Harris denied any involvement but confessed after being shown photos of one of the locations. She claimed she was unaware the men had escaped and believed they had been released from jail.

Casey Smith was later found at her home and also initially lied to police. She later admitted that three men entered the Buick and that she and Harris dropped one of them off near South Broad and Fourth Streets.

Meanwhile, New Orleans police continued their search for Donald and Tate. Officers received an anonymous tip with the phone number Donald had been using after the escape. A search warrant revealed that the number had been used to contact known associates of Donald.

Police canvassed the 4200 block of Dale Street in New Orleans East — a known area linked to Donald. Two witnesses and surveillance footage from a nearby gas station confirmed Harris’ account.

As of Friday, five escapees — Jermaine Donald, Leo Tate, Derrick Groves, Antoine Massey, and Lenton VanBuren — remain at large.