AMITE — One deputy has been terminated and two senior-level employees are suspended after Monday’s incident where an inmate escaped after a court appearance. The inmate was located and placed back in custody within about 30 minutes after his escape.
Sheriff Gerald Sticker called the escape “1,000 percent avoidable” and “1,000 percent preventable” and pledged in a video his office posted on YouTube on Tuesday to fix the failures that allowed it to happen.
An investigation by the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office so far reveals that following inmate Donnie Stevenson’s appearance in court on June 15, he was grouped with six other inmates to be escorted out of the courthouse by one deputy.
When the group exited to load into the transport van, Stevenson remained by the back door. The transport deputy escorting the group did not conduct an appropriate headcount when loading the van and then proceeded to drive out of the loading dock area without Stevenson, per TPSO. It was determined that Stevenson waited at the back door until the van was gone and then climbed over the loading dock gate around 10:20 a.m., which was caught on video.
TPSO deputies and Amite Police immediately started searching the area.
“After a 5-minute track by TPSO K-9 Gunner, Stevenson was found hiding under a truck one block from the courthouse near Duncan Avenue and Mulberry Street, concluding the 30-minute search effort,” TPSO said in a news release. He was taken back into custody as of 10:53 a.m. Monday and charged with an additional count of simple escape. Plus, officials are looking to increase security at the courthouse loading dock area.
Last week, jail staff and leadership raised awareness about Stevenson’s upcoming court hearing and requested specialized transport for him to two levels of upper-chain-of-command personnel, per TPSO’s investigation into the incident. That request was not followed through by the two jail administrators. Those administrators have now been suspended for the remainder of this week.
TPSO is currently working to revise courthouse staffing assignments, and a new protocol for high-risk inmates is already in effect, according to a news release. Additionally, TPSO is acquiring new restraints for high-risk inmates and the Tangipahoa Parish government is actively making alterations to the loading dock gate.
This investigation is ongoing, with the possibility of additional employee disciplinary actions and/or terminations.
Stevenson was arrested in 2025 for first-degree rape, aggravated kidnapping, armed robbery, and illegal possession of stolen things. In addition, he has previous charges that include simple escape, aggravated escape, and resisting an officer.
Sticker said he met with the mother of the victim in that case and took responsibility for what happened.
“I’m as pissed off, I’m as infuriated, embarrassed. It’s utterly ridiculous that in light of the information that was known, the processes in place, that members of this sheriff’s office didn’t do their job,” he said.
Stevenson previously escaped custody in December 2025. According to officials, the 2025 incident occurred around 10 a.m. as inmates scheduled for court were exiting a transport van in the loading dock behind the closed security gate. Deputies were informed by a courthouse employee that a suspicious person was seen wearing a gray sweat suit and orange flip-flops walking from behind the courthouse. TPSO deputies began an active pursuit of this individual, which led to a nearby neighborhood where several residents helped direct deputies to Stevenson, whom they had allegedly seen pulling on vehicle and home door handles as he ran.
K-9 Thor found Stevenson, who had put on a black sweatsuit and was hiding near a mobile home. Once he was in custody, Stevenson was rebooked on new charges for his escape.
Stevenson has been housed at Angola since December 2025 when he briefly escaped the courthouse under similar circumstances. He will be transported back to Angola following processing for this incident, TPSO said.
One deputy has been placed on administrative leave as the investigation into this incident continues. Additionally, the TPSO is actively working with parish government to increase the security features of the courthouse loading dock area.
Sticker said that in his two years in office, the agency has made progress in “inches, not miles” toward the professionalism he wants.
“I inherited a mess and it’s hard to clean up a mess without getting dirt on you,” he said.
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