FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Four people accused of helping a 21-year-old murder suspect escape from the Broward County courthouse last week faced a judge Monday morning.
Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said Winston Russell Jr., 22, of Sunrise; LaQuay Stern, 22, of Palm Bay; and 17-year-old twins Kreton Barnes and TreVon Barnes, of West Palm Beach, helped Dayonte Resiles orchestrate his escape from the downtown Fort Lauderdale courthouse Friday morning.
Russell and Stern were ordered held without bond, while the twins were ordered to remain in juvenile detention for 21 days until their next hearing.
During a Sunday afternoon news conference announcing the arrests, Israel detailed the roles that they played in Resiles' getaway.
Hours before the incident, Israel said, Stern drove her sliver BMW to pick up Russell from his Sunrise home. Then they went to an apartment on Siesta Key Circle in Deerfield Beach, where they picked up two bags.
One of the bags contained clothing for Resiles, and the other held a generic police uniform, Israel said.
Stern and Russell next drove to West Palm Beach, where they picked up the twin brothers, and the foursome drove south to the Broward County courthouse, Israel said.
The Barnes brothers sat in the courtroom, where a pretrial hearing for Resiles was scheduled, while Stern and Russell waited in the BMW on the north side of the courthouse, Israel said.
"One of the twins coughed into a cellphone that was open between the twins and Stern and Russell in the vehicle," Israel said.
The sheriff said the cough signaled Stern and Russell that Resiles was on his way to the car.
During the escape, Resiles took off his jumpsuit, handcuffs and shackles. Surveillance video showed him running out of the courthouse wearing a white T-shirt and black shorts.
Resiles got into the BMW and was driven to an apartment at an undisclosed location, Israel said.
Stern and Russell returned to Russell's Sunrise home, and Russell took possession of the bag that held the police uniform, Israel said.
Stern left for several hours and then met Russell at a Deerfield Beach apartment, where deputies ultimately tracked them down Saturday and took them into custody, Israel said.
Resiles is charged in the 2014 death of Jill Halliburton Su, who was found dead in a bathtub in her Davie home. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Resiles, who remains at large.
According to an arrest affidavit, Stern was recorded in several telephone conversations with Resiles plotting the escape.
As a result of the escape, the sheriff said Monday he has ordered a change in the way maximum security inmates are transported in the courthouse.
File: Revised inmate movement procedure for Broward County
"After evaluating and debriefing the escape of Dayonte Resiles, I directed a change in the movement of maximum security inmates. Effective immediately, when a maximum security inmate is moved for any appearance in court, the detention deputy will remain with the inmate and will only release custody once an armed deputy is present," Israel said in a statement. "Though this change requires significant logistical coordination, I am confident this change will make the courthouse safer and lessen the chance of inmate escape."
Anyone with information about Resiles' whereabouts is asked to call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS.
