INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The Indian River County Sheriff’s Office is beginning to release details on how two murder suspects were able to break out of jail early Monday morning and flee the complex. Leviticus Taylor, 25, has been recaptured, while Rondell Reed, 52, remains on the loose.
Whether it was mechanical failure, human failure or a combination of the two that led to the successful escape remains to be determined.
Some cameras monitoring the exterior of the jail and a few lights meant to help guards keep watch were not operating at the time of the jailbreak, according to Sheriff’s spokesman Jeff Luther.
“We’ve tried to maintain as best we can,” Luther said of equipment, which has been in need of repair or replacement for some months.
When asked if budget cuts were the reason the equipment had not been taken care of, he said, “I’m not going to point any fingers.”
There are five cameras along Taylor and Reed’s escape route, according to Luther. The one nearest their point of exit from the building had been struck by lightning and no longer functions.
Two others along the route, also, do not work.
Investigators have been reviewing what security footage they do have to piece together the escape and the timeline.
Lights near the recreation yard, from where Taylor and Reed escaped after getting out of the building, also were not working.
Luther said some of the cameras are motion sensitive, and if there is not enough light, the cameras might not have picked up the escapees.
From what investigators have been able to determine so far, Taylor and Reed escaped through an air vent in their cell, into an area between the wall of their cell and the exterior wall of their cellblock – an area called a “chase.”
A chase is an area between walls where the pipes, electrical wiring and ducts are housed.
Each cellblock has chase. In this case, it was located immediately behind Taylor and Reed’s cell.
Sheriff Deryl Loar said Tuesday morning that the 17 other high risk inmates housed in that particular cellblock have been “further segregated” and interviewed. They have not been removed from the cellblock.
Taylor and Reed’s cell has been secured and no inmates are being housed in that cell, he said.
Further, the door leading from the chase to the exterior of the cellblock has been secured with a thick latch and lock on the outside.
Sometime during the night – between 12:30 and 4:30 a.m. – Taylor and Reed were able to compromise the vent in their cell and climb through the opening, squeezing through a 16-inch by 12-inch hole and dropping into the chase.
With them, they brought what authorities believe to be blankets or some other similar material.
Another aspect of the escape investigation is dealing with the timeline. According to statements from Taylor’s accused accomplices, they received a phone call from Taylor at 2:30 a.m. Monday to meet him at a nearby apartment complex.
According to statements from the Sheriff’s Office, Taylor and Reed were discovered missing from their cell during the 4:30 a.m. headcount. The inmates, presumably, were in their cell for the 3:30 a.m. headcount, which does not line up with the accomplices’ statements about the 2:30 a.m. phone call.
“We’re putting all this together,” Luther said. “We stand behind our guys until we prove otherwise.”
The Sheriff’s Office is still searching for Rondell Reed. Anyone with information regarding his whereabouts is asked to call 911 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-273-8477.
