ST. LANDRY PARISH — Opelousas, La. — More than 40 years of deferred maintenance and staffing challenges may have contributed to a recent escape at the St. Landry Parish Jail, according to jail officials who gave KATC an exclusive tour of the facility.
KATC reporter Paris Flannigan and photojournalist Blake Blanchard were taken inside the parish jail, where three men escaped earlier this month.
During the tour, Warden Adam Ford and Assistant Jail Warden Lt. Nicholas Sheumaker pointed out several structural and security issues they say have plagued the jail for years.
Officials showed KATC broken and missing cell windows, damaged and malfunctioning door locks, cracked and rusted walls caused by long-term water leaks, and unsealed vents.
“We have a cell here that has a window that is completely missing,” Sheumaker said.
Sheumaker said he discovered one vent missing a guarded plate, explaining it could pose a security risk because it's not covered properly.
“If they knock the center out, they can take out the bricks,” he said. “Somebody can slide up there. I do not know what’s up there.”
The tour included cell 315 — the cell from which the three men escaped. A visible hole in the wall remains. Officials believe the inmates exploited weakened mortar caused by years of roof leaks.
“What I’m thinking is from the roof leaking for so long, the water — this mortar turned to sand,” Ford said. “Whatever they used, they dug around it and pushed it out. They had some kind of crack or imperfection for them to get out so easily.”
After the escape, the cell door was welded shut to prevent other men from escaping.
Since the escape, deputies have been required to conduct checks every 15 to 30 minutes — a task officials say is difficult due to staffing levels.
According to Ford, three deputies are assigned to monitor a floor housing approximately 100 people.
“These things have to be fixed if you want to run a jail,” Ford said.
Ford also said his team has repeatedly submitted maintenance requests to parish government, but little has changed. He noted the entire jail — spanning three floors — has only one maintenance worker employed by the parish.
“Having one person here to fix everything is impossible,” Ford said.
St. Landry Parish President Jessie Bellard said he does not directly receive maintenance reports from the jail, but is working to determine where requests are being submitted.
“I do have my public works coordinator pulling all the requests,” Bellard said. “I do not get them, but I’m not saying they do not exist.”
Bellard said the jail's greatest need is staffing.
“They need more deputies,” he said.
Tamarcus Sam, who was once held at the jail, agreed. He said security lapses are a more significant concern than building conditions.
“Between 15 and 30 minutes, a deputy is supposed to go inside these dorms and do a walk-through, but none of the deputies do that,” Sam said. “It’s not about the maintenance — it’s about the security.”
When asked where the deputy responsible for monitoring the escaped inmates was at the time of the incident, Ford and Sheumaker declined to comment, citing an ongoing investigation.
The escape remains under investigation and law enforcement continues to search for Keith Eli, one of the three inmates who escaped the St. Landry Parish Jail in early December 2025. Eli has yet to be caught.
One of the three, Johnathan Jevon Joseph, 24, was captured a few days after the escape and the other, Joseph Harrington took his own life two days after he escaped.
In total, St.Landry Parish has had six men escape from the jail, half were during transports.
