Authorities in Louisiana are looking for an inmate who escaped jail for the second time in a year after a member of the public tipped them off Thursday.
Tra’Von Johnson, 22, was awaiting trial in Tangipahoa Parish Jail for his alleged role in a 2022 Hammond-area home invasion where a man was killed and his child was injured, according to the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office. The sheriff's office previously reported that Johnson was 19.
The sheriff's office said it received a call just before 10 p.m. on Thursday from a member of the public who asked if Johnson was still in custody. The person did not identify themselves, Sheriff Gerald Sticker said in a news briefing Friday afternoon.
"Following an immediate headcount of the jail population and a review of Johnson’s movements throughout the day, it was determined Johnson escaped around 4:30 p.m. when another inmate helped lift him over the perimeter fence," the sheriff's office said in a statement, adding that Johnson was the only inmate to have escaped Thursday.
At around 4:15 p.m., there was an incident at a dorm in the jail where an inmate flooded a cell by stopping up a shower, according to Sticker.
"As a result, a deputy was dispatched to the back with a crew of trustees to clean the water out of that dorm. While they were doing so, they opened the backdoor to the jail that leads into the yard," Sticker said, adding that the door to the dorm was left open "for about a minute."
A deputy who realized the backdoor was open closed it, but not before two individuals, Johnson, and another inmate, Trevon Wallace, were able to get out, Sticker said.
Wallace, 28, was found by the exterior door when deputies went to make sure it was shut, according to Sticker. He was escorted back to his cell, but a headcount was not done at that time and the incident was not reported "up the chain of command," Sticker said.
An official count done around two hours later determined that all inmates were accounted for, Sticker said, but upon reviewing surveillance video, jail staff did not do a proper count.
"We have policies in place for this, we have procedures in place that dictate the amount of counts we're supposed to do per day," Sticker said. "So, that's another opportunity missed."
Surveillance video of the yard outside the jail at around 4:28 p.m. showed Johnson scaling the back fence while Wallace, who was underneath him, gave him a push.
"For whatever reason, whether he couldn't get over the fence on his own, or he was just there to help the first individual get over that fence, he returned back into the jail and that's where our deputy intercepted him," Sticker said.
Wallace has been charged with simple escape and principal to help someone escape, according to Sticker. Johnson has been entered into the National Crime Information Center as an escapee.
This is Johnson's second escape from the jail in a year, according to the sheriff's office, who said he was one of four inmates who broke out of the facility "a year ago this month." Details about Johnson's 2024 escape were not immediately available.
Johnson’s escape on Thursday triggered a lockdown at the jail, Sticker said. The sheriff's office said it called on law enforcement partners for help in the search to find Johnson, alerted victims of his escape and contacted his family members and "known associates."
Sticker said the sheriff's office received a tip about a suspicious person in the Baptist community. A deputy who responded to the area found a person matching Johnson's description with different clothes on. The person ran into the woods, per Sticker.
"We deployed a perimeter of law enforcement officers, we put drones in the air, we put dogs on the ground," Sticker said. "And when we left there, I was out there myself, we left there about 3 o'clock this morning, we exhausted that search."
Sticker said he's not completely sure that person was Johnson. The sheriff's office has received calls about Johnson and are pursuing leads, he said.
Johnson is 5 feet and 5 inches, weighs 120 pounds and is from the Tickfaw area, according to the sheriff's office. Anyone who sees Johnson or has information on his whereabouts is encouraged to get in touch with the sheriff's office.
"My message to Mr. Tra'Von Johnson is that we will find you, my best advice to you is to turn yourself in," Sticker said. "Also like to take a minute to apologize to the victims, that this individual is out on the street. I'm sheriff of this parish, I own this."
Sticker said the sheriff's office has been working to address deficiencies at the Tangipahoa Parish Jail, but it is "still a work in progress."
Four people have been placed on administrative leave as a result of Thursday's incident, Sticker said.
Johnson's escape isn't the only prison break that has plagued Louisiana this week.
A week ago in New Orleans, 10 inmates escaped the Orleans Parish Justice Center, a realization that was discovered during a routine headcount. Five of the 10 inmates have since been apprehended, with the remaining five still at large.
Sterling Williams, a maintenance worker at the facility, has been accused of cutting off the water so inmates could pull the toilet from the wall, leading to their escape, according to officials, who also said three employees were placed on leave without pay. It’s not clear whether Williams was one of those employees.
More than 200 law enforcement personnel are assisting in the search for the five who remain at large, officials said.
