News

Actions

Broward County Courthouse inmate escapee Dayonte Resiles arrested in West Palm Beach

7 charged with helping in escape
Posted at 3:32 PM, Jul 20, 2016
and last updated 2016-07-21 19:07:15-04

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP/WPTV) -- A murder suspect who authorities say escaped from the Broward County Courthouse with the help of seven other people was apprehended Wednesday night at a Days Inn located in West Palm Beach.

Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel told reporters early Thursday morning that 21-year-old Dayonte Resiles surrendered at the motel located on 45th Street shortly before 11 p.m.

Israel says Resiles, who was alone, obeyed orders from a SWAT team to come out of a room. He lay on the ground and allowed himself to be handcuffed.

The sheriff says no force was necessary.

Israel said some people may be eligible for the $50,000 reward that had been offered for information leading to his capture.

Resiles bolted out of a courtroom Friday. He is accused in the 2014 stabbing death of 59-year-old Jill Halliburton Su during an attempted robbery at her home in Davie, Florida.

Su's family founded the Halliburton oil services company.

Resiles arrived back at the Broward County Jail around 5:30 a.m. Thursday.

At a Thursday afternoon hearing a judge denied him bond. The judge also ordered him to be isolated from the general inmate population and not to have any communication other than with his attorneys.

However, the 21 year-old did not seem to like the consequences of his actions. "Your Honor, I believe it would be unconstitutional as well as unfair to restrain and restrict me from being able to converse and talk and meet with my immediate family," said Resiles to the Judge at his hearing.

Resiles told the judge he should be able to talk with his family about his mental health and well-being.

"Do you feel mentally disturbed," asked the judge? "I'm not saying I'm mentally disturbed, but I'm not saying that I won't," replied Resiles.

That's when the judge ordered him a mental health evaluation. His defense attorneys' objections were rejected by the judge.

"The court is aiding and assisting the prosecution in the penalty phase by making that ruling," said one of Resiles attorneys in an interview with reporters after the hearing. 

Resiles will also have to meet with his attorneys segregated from the other inmates at the jail.

The judge also ordered him to have a mental health evaluation.

7 others arrested in escape plot

Investigators said the escape was carefully planned by Resiles and his accomplices, resulting in seven people being arrested.  

Resiles was sitting in the jury box when he escaped his shackles, jumped a courtroom barrier and ran past bailiffs. A car was waiting near the courthouse with a change of clothes, authorities say.

Fellow jail inmate Walter M. Hart III, 22, was charged Wednesday in the escape. Courthouse video shows Hart, who is awaiting trial in a separate 2014 murder case, "work in concert with Resiles to begin to defeat the shackling system used to secure inmates," according to an arrest report.

With his back to the camera, the report says Hart "holds up the waist chain, which allows Resiles to begin manipulating the restraints," leading to his escape moments later.

Also charged are Resiles' 18-year-old girlfriend, LaQuay Stern, who authorities say was waiting outside in the car, and three others.

According to arrest documents, the escape was planned during several phone calls and visitations.

Sheriff Scott Israel has said armed deputies, rather than unarmed bailiffs, will now accompany maximum-security inmates in the courtroom. The sheriff has promised an investigation into the circumstances of the escape.

Others charged in the escape are: 

  • Francine Mesadieu, accused of giving Resiles a wig and clothes to conceal his identity
  • Paige Jackson, accused of facilitating phone calls between Resiles and other suspects who planned the escape
  • Winston Russell, Jr.
  • Kreton Barnes
  • Trevon Barnes