Derrick Groves is a convicted murderer from New Orleans whose case drew national attention after both a notorious 2018 Mardi Gras shooting and a later high‑profile jail escape. He is also widely discussed online because of his family link to Kim Groves, a woman whose 1994 killing was ordered by a corrupt New Orleans police officer.

Who is Derrick Groves?

  • Derrick Groves (often nicknamed “Woo”) is a man from New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward, born in the late 1990s and known locally for a long history of violent crime allegations.
  • Commentary from local officials has described him as a heinous and intimidating figure who “reigned terror” in his neighborhood for years before his recent convictions.

What did he do?

  • Groves was found guilty on two counts of second‑degree murder and two counts of attempted second‑degree murder for a 2018 Mardi Gras Day shooting that killed Jamar Robinson and Byron Jackson and injured two other people during what was supposed to be a family celebration.
  • Prosecutors said he was one of two shooters who opened fire with AK‑47‑style rifles; eyewitness testimony, cell‑phone records, and ballistics were cited as key evidence in securing the final conviction after multiple previous trials and mistrials.

Legal saga and multiple trials

  • Groves was first convicted in 2019, but changes to Louisiana law requiring unanimous jury verdicts in felony cases led to retrials and a long, drawn‑out legal battle that kept the case in the headlines.
  • After several mistrials and a hung jury, a later retrial finally produced unanimous guilty verdicts, and he also entered pleas in two additional murder cases involving victims Tyrone Smith and Woodrow Smith.

Jail escape and recapture

  • Before sentencing on the Mardi Gras murders, Groves escaped from a New Orleans jail in 2025 with a group of other inmates, an incident that prompted a multi‑agency manhunt and public safety alerts.
  • Coverage notes that he remained at large longer than most of the other escapees, with a reward offered for information, before being recaptured months later, reportedly after spending time hiding out in the Atlanta area.

Family connection and public reaction

  • Several news and social posts highlight that Groves is the grandson of Kim Groves, a woman whose 1994 murder was arranged by New Orleans police officer Len Davis after she filed a brutality complaint against him, a case that has long symbolized deep corruption in the city’s policing history.
  • This family history, combined with his own crimes, has fueled intense online debate and forum discussions about cycles of violence, systemic injustice, and whether his background explains anything about the path he took, even while many commentators stress that his actions still demand full accountability.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.