And on the seventh day, murder suspect Dayonte Resiles was back in Broward jail. He was apprehended at a Days Inn in West Palm Beach late Wednesday.
The 21-year-old eluded capture after making a historic escape from a fourth-floor Broward County courtroom Friday.
Shortly after 5 a.m. Thursday, an entourage of Broward Sheriff’s deputies escorted Resiles back into the jail, which is connected to the building where he fled last week.
Detectives got the tip that led to Resiles – inside the hotel’s Room 149 – after charging seven people with helping Resiles carry out his escape plan. Three of them, including an already-jailed murder suspect, were charged Wednesday, hours before Resiles was nabbed.
Broward Crimestoppers had offered a $50,000 reward for information that led to the man suspected of fatally stabbing a Davie woman in 2014.
Broward Sheriff Scott Israel spoke to reporters outside the agency’s headquarters, where Resiles was being interviewed by detectives shortly before 1 a.m.
“To the Broward County citizens, Dayonte Resiles is in custody,” Israel said. “Our SWAT team ordered him out of the room. He came out of the room; he surrendered without incident; he laid on the ground, he allowed us to handcuff him. No force was necesasary.
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“As I said, he’s back in custody and Broward County and South Florida is a safer place.”
Resiles was found alone in his room at the motel, 2300 45th St., when he was taken into custody, Israel said. The sheriff indicated Resiles’ whereabouts during his time out of jail were known, but would not indicate where the murder suspect had been.
The sheriff said that because Resiles’ group of acquaintances included teens and young adults close to Resiles’ age, there was little cooperation and even “obstruction.” According to agency spokeswoman Veda Coleman-Wright, callers posing as tipsters offered bogus information to throw detectives off the trail.
Before the news conference, Israel said he had a brief exchange with Resiles.
“I just looked at him and he said, ‘Sheriff’s here,'” Israel said.
Arrested Wednesday were two alleged accomplices: 31-year-old Francine Mesadieu, a cousin of Resiles, and Paige Lazarya Jackson, 18, both of Fort Lauderdale.
According to arrest reports, Mesadieu helped provide Resiles with a wig, colored contact lenses and clothing. She is currently on probation for a prior grand theft case.
Detectives who reviewed Resiles’ jailhouse phone calls said that between July 4 and July 7, at least 15 calls were made to Jackson, who facilitated three-way calls that connected Resiles with other accomplices directly involved in his escape, the arrest report said.
Both women are charged with accessory after the fact. Jackson additionally faces a charge of aiding in Resiles’ escape.
Among other alleged accomplices: Walter Hart III, a suspect in an unrelated killing, who is accused of helping Resiles unlatch his waist chain in a holding area prior to being escorted into the courtroom of Circuit Judge Raag Singhal. There Resiles bolted from a bailiff’s grasp, shed his shackles and jumpsuit and dashed out an emergency exit. Detectives learned Resiles had a handcuff key, but did not know how he had obtained it.
Also accused of helping him during the July 15 escape were Laquay Stern, 18, of Palm Bay, whose getaway car, a silver BMW, waited at the north side of the courthouse where Resiles exited; Winston Russell, 22, of Sunrise, who was driving the getaway car; and twins Tre’Von and Kretron Barnes, both 17 and of West Palm Beach, who authorities say signaled to Resiles in the courtroom when the getaway car was ready.
The sheriff said that “we anticipate more people being charged,” but said none of the agency’s employees had been implicated.
“Public corruption is investigating every aspect of the case. Everything’s on the table,” he said. “But at this point, there’s no reason to believe anybody from the agency is involved, but we’ll see where we’ll go.”
The manhunt included over 200 BSO employees, U.S. Marshals investigators and police departments from Fort Lauderdale, Sunrise, North Miami Beach, Davie, Coral Springs and West Palm Beach, as well as the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.