Update: Johnson was captured on Friday night in Amite at around 8:30.
Original story:
A manhunt is underway for 19-year-old Tra’Von Johnson, who escaped from the Tangipahoa Parish jail Thursday afternoon – and this is not the first time he’s escaped from that jail.
Sheriff Gerald Sticker says at around 4:15 p-m, inmates had flooded one of the cells. At some point when jail employees were pushing the water out of the jail, the cell door and the exterior door were open simultaneously for less than a minute – plenty of time for Johnson and another inmate to escape. Sticker says they didn’t realize that Johnson was missing for more than five hours.
“You go back and additional review of the video of the outside rec yard, you see in that video the individual scaling the fence,” Sticker said.
Sticker says a deputy found someone Thursday night who matched that description, but an hours-long search that involved several departments, drones and search dogs came up empty.
“We left there about 3:00 this morning, we exhausted that search and at this time, this individual is still on the loose,” Sticker said.
Johnson was being held at the jail for his alleged role in a deadly home invasion in 2022. Sticker apologized to Johnson’s victims.
“I would also like to take this time to apologize to the community that this individual is out on the streets, to just let them know that again we are working, we are not going to stop until this individual is brought back into custody,” Sticker said.
The inmate who helped Johnson scale the fence is charged with accessory and simple escape, even though he never left jail grounds. At least four jail employees have been placed on administrative leave. Johnson had previously escaped the jail with three other inmates in May of 2024. The sheriff’s office says Johnson may be in the Tickfaw or Hammond-Pumpkin Center areas, since those are the areas that he had frequented.
Johnson is awaiting charges for murder and attempted murder.
Comments