Man who fled prison after being charged with 4 murders pleads guilty to slayings, other crimes

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A man who escaped from prison last year after being charged with four murders and then spent a week and a half on the run before he was recaptured has pleaded guilty to the slayings and other crimes.

Ameen Hurst, 20, shackled to a wooden chair, entered the plea Friday to 28 counts — including four counts of third-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder as well as escape, conspiracy and firearms crimes, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

Hurst was arrested at age 16 in 2021 and charged in four killings and two armed robberies. Law enforcement authorities said he was affiliated with two allied Philadelphia gangs responsible for a wave of violence.

Hurst and another inmate, Nasir Grant, escaped in May of last year from the Philadelphia Industrial Correction Center in northeast Philadelphia. Grant was taken into custody four days later and Hurst was on the run for 10 days before he was rearrested.

Prosecutors said the two cut a hole in a fence surrounding a recreation yard at the prison and were gone for nearly 19 hours before officials knew they were missing. Authorities also blamed switched-off motion sensors and a sleeping guard, and several people were also charged with having helped the escapees.

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Assistant District Attorney Anthony Voci said investigators are pleased by the outcome of the cases, mostly because the victims’ families will be spared a lengthy trial. He said, however, that it was “difficult to imagine that four young lives were extinguished by somebody who was 16 years old. That’s a tragedy in and of itself.”

He also said that Hurst laughed about the killings in calls from behind bars, showing ”a level of callousness and remorselessness that is frightening.” Assistant District Attorney Brett Zakeosian said that while on the run, Hurst rented a recording studio and recorded a new rap song that he has since released online.

Defense attorney Gary Silver declined comment Friday. Hurst is expected to be sentenced in two weeks.