NEW ORLEANS — A 17-year-old who police say committed a carjacking shortly after escaping from New Orleans Juvenile Court on Monday remains at large, although the victim told WWL Louisiana that her badly wrecked car and discarded cell phone have been recovered.
The escape of Carlos Taylor, who had been ordered to remain in custody on aggravated assault and gun charges just before he bolted, is sounding alarms from the governor’s office, the state attorney general as well as the city.
The city issued a statement Tuesday that the juvenile lockup “will be restricting juvenile movement until a thorough security assessment and investigation is completed."
Another concern expressed by state officials is the apparent failure of New Orleans authorities to follow a new state law requiring authorities to notify the public immediately about any juvenile escape.
“If he escapes, you've got to notify within 10 minutes. And that wasn't done,” said State Sen. Patrick Connick, R-Marrero. “The law was designed to protect the public when there's an escape of a juvenile from any facility from anywhere. We've got to pound it in their heads that this is what has to take place when something like this happens again.”
Connick said he was motivated to introduce legislation after WWL Louisiana aired exclusive stories in 2023 showing video of an escape from the city’s juvenile jail by violent repeat offender Curtis Tassin.
Months later, the station revealed that more than a week passed before the public was notified about the escape of Lynell Reynolds, a juvenile lifer after paralyzing a young man by shooting him in the back during a robbery. Reynolds eventually was captured in Texas.
In both of those earlier escapes, the public – including the victims in those cases – was not notified by authorities until local media reported the escapes.
“Your story caused me to look at what was happening and draft a law to have notification done immediately,” Connick said. “Don't protect the juvenile. Protect the public.”
After WWL Louisiana’s reporting, Connick passed a law requiring authorities to notify the public about juvenile escapes within 10 minutes.
The law took effect Aug. 1, but when Taylor escaped through two unlocked doors Monday, the public was not notified for about two hours, long after police say Taylor carjacked a woman at the nearby LSU Dental School.
The victim was 72-year-old Barbara Lane Gauley, a local singer and piano player who performs under her stage name Barbie Lane.
Gauley said she was in the parking lot at the LSU Dental School when the carjacker appeared out of nowhere, accosted her, and demanded her keys.
Gauley told WWL Louisiana her car was recovered Tuesday, badly damaged and missing much of her piano equipment and sheet music.
Connick said the carjacking never should have happened.
“If he escapes, you've got to notify within 10 minutes. And that wasn't done,” Connick said. “The law was designed to protect the public when there's an escape of a juvenile from any facility from anywhere. We've got to pound it in their heads that this is what has to take place when something like this happens again.”
Gov. Jeff Landry and Attorney General Liz Murril were quick to raise concerns about the city’s apparent failure to follow the new law.
In a statement Monday, the governor’s office wrote, “We are committed to determining what led to this escape as well as the delayed and incomplete notification to ensure this does not happen again.
Murrill emailed a statement that read, in part, “The law is clear on what their obligations are. Obviously - as illustrated by this event - escapes from juvenile custody are a matter of public concern and public safety. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - we need the City Council, the Juvenile Courts, NOPD, and the District Attorney’s Office to work together to keep juvenile crime under control and to ensure accountability when someone is charged with a crime.”
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