Atlanta, Georgia Derrick “Woo” Groves, the convicted murderer who slipped away from a New Orleans jail in a bold group escape, was finally cornered after a 145-day manhunt. His arrest on October 8, 2025, in a southwest Atlanta home came after a tense SWAT standoff, but not before rapper Lil Woody stirred public curiosity with a social media video claiming he had seen Groves chilling in a local nightclub just days earlier.
The allegation, which was posted broadly on sites such as Instagram and YouTube, gave the account of Groves’ months living on the lam an unexpected twist. Although the police have not verified the report, it has fueled online speculation over how an unkcknown wanted criminal was able to roaming so openly within an urban area.
A tweet from X.
Groves, 28, escaped the Orleans Parish Justice Center on May 16, 2025, from among ten inmates. They climbed down from the roof using a makeshift rope after cutting through the fence, reports said. Groves was convicted in October 2024 of two charges each of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder for an incident during a 2018 Mardi Gras block party shootdown in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward.
The majority of the inmates were recaptured in weeks, but Groves went AWOL, so the search was launched by the FBI, Marshals Service, and Louisiana State Troopers. There was also a reward issued for $50,000 for information leading to capturing him. His however was later taken into custody by the authorities for the role she took in facilitating the bust out by introducing contraband.
The manhunt ended when a tip to Crimestoppers Greater New Orleans pointed officials to a residence on Honeysuckle Lane in Atlanta. After hours of negotiations and deploying gas and K-9 units, SWAT teams found Groves hiding alone in a crawlspace. He waived extradition the next day, eager to return to Louisiana for further proceedings.
In one of the viral social media clips, Atlanta-based rapper Lil Woody whose real name is Kenneth Copeland told of seeing Groves in a nightclub.
“Man, my brother was in the club with him. If y’all know, I placed him there. I was like, hey, nigga, that nigga escaped from New Orleans prison right there,”
Woody said in the footage, which has been reposted by outlets like MyMixtapez.
He continued:
“That nigga holla like, nah, that ain’t him. I’m like, bro, that is him. He’s like, that ain’t him. Man, I be damn wake up the next day, it was him. Nigga! Nigga! Didn’t they have like a $50,000 reward out for this nigga? Man, I would have told him, hey, bro, look, I’m put $10,000 on your account. You need to go turn yourself in.”
Woody even speculated wildly:
“Because you just in the club, just chilling. You ain’t got no mission? You ain’t got no… That’s how you know that nigga the CIA. That’s how you know that nigga the CIA, y’all. Don’t let these folks fool y’all.”
The video, shared on platforms including Instagram and YouTube, aligns with Groves’ presence in Atlanta but remains unconfirmed by police.
Attempts to contact Lil Woody’s representatives for clarification have not yielded responses yet. Atlanta Police and the U.S. Marshals have not addressed the club sighting in public statements, as noted in reports from AP News. Venue staff at potential clubs were also unreachable for immediate comment. Without corroborating evidence like CCTV footage or witness accounts, the claim stays in the realm of hearsay.
Groves now faces escape charges alongside his life sentence. As he heads back to Louisiana, the alleged club encounter lingers as an open question a reminder to approach viral narratives with skepticism until facts emerge.
