Authorities in Louisiana are searching for an inmate who escaped jail for the second time in a year after a member of the public alerted them on Thursday.
Tra’Von Johnson, 22, was awaiting trial in Tangipahoa Parish Jail for his alleged involvement in a 2022 Hammond-area home invasion that killed a man and injured his child, according to the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office. Johnson was previously identified by the sheriff’s office as 19 years old.
The sheriff’s office said it received a call shortly before 10 p.m. on Thursday from a member of the public who inquired whether Johnson was still in custody. Sheriff Gerald Sticker stated in a news briefing on Friday afternoon that the individual did not identify themselves.
“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 who escaped on Thursday.
According to Sticker, at around 4:15 p.m., an incident occurred in a jail dorm where inmates flooded a cell by turning off a shower.
“As a result, a deputy was dispatched to the back with a team of trustees to remove the water from that dorm. While they were doing so, they opened the jail’s backdoor that leads into the yard,” Sticker said, adding that the dorm door was left open “for about a minute.”
A deputy discovered the backdoor was open and closed it, but not before Johnson and another inmate, Trevon Wallace, escaped, according to Sticker.
Wallace, 28, was discovered near the exterior door when deputies went to ensure it was closed, according to Sticker. He was led back to his cell, but no headcount was taken at the time, and the incident was not reported “up the chain of command,” Sticker explained.
According to Sticker, an official count conducted about two hours later determined that all inmates were accounted for, but a review of surveillance video revealed that jail staff did not conduct an accurate 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 went on. “So, that’s another opportunity missed.”
At 4:28 p.m., surveillance video from the yard outside the jail showed Johnson scaling the back fence while Wallace, who was underneath him, pushed him.
“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 told me.
According to Sticker, Wallace has been charged with simple escape and assisting another person in escaping. Johnson has been reported to the National Crime Information Center as an escapee.
Johnson’s second escape from the jail in a year, according to the sheriff’s office, which stated that he was one of four inmates who broke out “a year ago this month.” Details on Johnson’s 2024 escape were not immediately available.
Sticker said Johnson’s escape on Thursday resulted in a lockdown at the jail. The sheriff’s office said it asked law enforcement partners for assistance in the search for Johnson, informed victims of his escape, and contacted his family members and “known associates.”
Sticker stated that the sheriff’s office received a tip about a suspicious person in the Baptist community. A deputy who responded to the area discovered a person who matched Johnson’s description but was dressed differently. According to Sticker, the person ran into the woods.
“We deployed a perimeter of law enforcement officers, we put drones in the air, we put dogs on the ground,” Sticker went on. “And when we left there, I was out there myself, we left there about 3 o’clock this morning, we exhausted that search.”
Sticker stated that he is not certain that the person was Johnson. The sheriff’s office has received calls about Johnson and is looking into leads, he said.
Johnson is 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighs 120 pounds, and is from the Tickfaw area, according to the sheriff’s office. Anyone who sees Johnson or has information about his whereabouts is encouraged to contact 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,” according to Sticker. “I’d also like to take a moment to apologize to the victims for this individual being out on the street. “I’m the sheriff of this parish; I own it.”
Sticker stated that the sheriff’s office has been working to address deficiencies at the Tangipahoa Parish Jail, but it is “still a work in progress.”
Sticker confirmed that four people have been placed on administrative leave as a result of Thursday’s incident.
Johnson’s escape isn’t the only prison break to hit Louisiana this week.
A week ago, 10 inmates escaped from the Orleans Parish Justice Center, as discovered during a routine headcount. Five of the ten inmates have since been apprehended, while the other five remain 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, allowing them to escape, according to officials, who also said three employees were placed on unpaid leave. It’s unclear whether Williams was among those employees.
More than 200 law enforcement officers are assisting in the search for the five people who are still at large, officials said.
