By Missy Wilkinson
The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate
NEW ORLEANS — Multiple Orleans Justice Center inmates started fires in their cells on July 5, then attacked the deputies sent to move them to a disciplinary pod, according to court records. Inmates also fought each other, threatened to jump from a second-story mezzanine, and bit and punched deputies.
The melee in Pod 3D involved at least four individual fires in cells, according to the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, three inmates and four deputies. Carlos Taylor, 18, and Devonn Davis, 21, were each rebooked on counts of battery of a police officer.
Investigators say Taylor and Davis started fires in their cells. When deputies tried to relocate them, the pair allegedly climbed onto the ledge of a second-story mezzanine and threatened to jump.
At one point, Davis allegedly hung from the railing by one arm and punched a deputy in the face with his free hand, according to an NOPD arrest report. Taylor allegedly fought another inmate, Harold Brown, biting a deputy who tried to separate them.
Roughly a week later, Taylor allegedly tried to stab a group of deputies with a six-inch metal shank. He was rebooked on 10 counts of aggravated assault on a peace officer, along with counts of introducing contraband into a correctional facility and possession of a weapon. A judge also ordered him to undergo a mental evaluation.
More jail fires
The July 5 disturbance marked at least the second time in as many months that inmates intentionally set fires at the jail. In June, two inmates set ablaze a pile of mattresses, jumpsuits, blankets and Styrofoam plates near the staircase in Pod 3E, sending one person to the hospital. Both were later booked on aggravated arson charges.
All July 5 fires were extinguished by deputies using fire extinguishers, according to OPSO, and no injuries were sustained.
It’s unclear how many inmates were in Pod 3D, an administrative segregation unit where individuals are separated from the general population for non-punitive reasons, during the disturbance. A housing pod at the jail can hold about 60 inmates. As of July 17, the Orleans Justice Center housed 1,379 inmates, exceeding the City Council’s 2019 population cap of 1,250.
Violent histories
Taylor has a history of violently resisting and evading authorities. During a juvenile detention hearing in 2024, he fled court, scaled a fence, crossed Interstate 610 and allegedly carjacked a woman who was waiting to pick up her son from an appointment at the LSU School of Dentistry. Taylor was captured three days later in Baton Rouge. He pleaded not guilty in March 2025 to two counts of attempted second-degree murder and one count each of armed robbery with a firearm, carjacking and aggravated escape.
Davis is awaiting trial on second-degree murder, two counts of attempted second-degree murder, armed robbery and racketeering. He is accused of killing Raven Francis, 29, a mother of four, during a September 2024 shooting outside Shamrock Bar & Grill.
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