One of the last New Orleans jail escapees seemingly professed his innocence in a new video dropped on social media.
A video of a man who appeared to be escaped inmate Antoine Massey was posted on Instagram June 1. According to NOLA, officials began to investigate the authenticity of the clip. It featured a man with the same facial tattoos as the 32-year-old.
In the video, Massey made several claims regarding the New Orleans jail escape, including his own innocence regarding the crimes that put him there. However, the clip was swiftly deleted the following afternoon after news sources caught wind of it.
“They say that I broke out. I didn’t break out. I was let out,” stated the unverified man in the footage.
He then shared his motive behind fleeing the jail, citing his potential life sentence for his alleged multiple offenses.
“The reason why I left the jail is because these people were trying to give me a life sentence in both parishes for something that I did not do,” he continued.
Massey was one of the 10 incarcerated men who escaped from the Orleans Justice Center in May. Since their run that made national headlines, eight inmates have been recaptured. Only Massey and Derrick Groves remain out in the streets.
The man in the video also discounted the story of a prison plumber, Sterling Williams, who was allegedly involved in helping the men escape. The 33-year-old civilian reportedly cut the water off in a jail cell to help the men sneak out through a hole behind a broken toilet.
Williams told New Orleans police that Massey threatened to shank him. Massey, however, denies the accusation.
“Sterling [Williams] flat-out lied on me,” asserted Massey.
Williams’ lawyer also denied police claims that his client made that allegation against Massey. However, the accusation would match Massey’s criminal history. He held charges of motor vehicle theft and domestic abuse battery involving strangulation. The escapee also faced charges in another parish for suspicion of kidnapping and rape.
Massey has a lengthy record that goes back over 15 years, many of which are considered violent offenses. He has even tried to break free from his incarceration before, including the tampering of two ankle monitors. Others involved have been arrested as accomplices for helping hide the inmates, according to WWLTV.
Police continue to search for him and his fellow escapee as this prison break wages on for another week. The jail has increased its reward to $50,000 for anyone with information that can lead to the capture of the suspect.
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