Ameen Hurst was captured Wednesday after escaping a Philadelphia prison 10 days ago, authorities said. He was awaiting trial on four murder charges in separate killings.
A second Philadelphia inmate has been captured following a brazen prison break. Accused killer Ameen Hurst managed to elude authorities for 10 days before he was caught by a federal marshals task force on Wednesday.
Hurst, 18, was awaiting trial on four murder counts, in separate slayings, when he and fellow prisoner Nasir Grant, 24, escaped from the Philadelphia Industrial Correction Center on May 7 by cutting a hole in a perimeter fence without being detected, authorities said.
Their escape went unnoticed for 19 hours at the understaffed facility, which has more than 800 open positions for correctional officers, a number that reflects 40% of the prison staff, authorities said.
The breakout is under investigation and under heavy criticism, as authorities struggle to piece together how the two were able to walk away from a guarded prison without getting noticed.
“Clearly the system screwed up and people didn't do what they're supposed to do," Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said at a press conference on May 8, when the escape was announced to the public. “I’m really angry about it. There’s no reason for this, and if everyone did what they were supposed to do, we wouldn’t have this problem.”
Prison officials said three bed-checks had been conducted the night the men escaped and that all inmates had been accounted for.
Kenney still appeared annoyed Wednesday, when city officials announced that Hurst had been arrested without incident by U.S. Marshals.
Whoever did the prison headcount "can't count or could count and did something wrong," the mayor said.
Whether the convicts were aided by prison staff is part of the escape's internal investigation, authorities said.
Hurst was traveling in a car with his mother and brother, officials said Wednesday.
Robert Clark, a supervisory deputy with the U.S. Marshals Service, said law enforcement had been dealing with relatives since Tuesday evening, when they called to arrange Hurst's surrender. But repeated deadlines for the exchange came and went without success, he said.
Task force members staked out several residences and observed Hurst get into a car with two family members, Clark said. Marshals pulled over the car and took Hurst into custody. They also arrested his brother, Amir Woods, 24, who was later charged with multiple counts including hindering apprehension, escape and conspiracy, authorities said.
According to online court records, Woods was released Thursday after posting $100,000 cash in lieu of $1 million bail.
Inside Edition Digital reached out for comment to Woods' attorney, but received no response.
Three people, including a fellow inmate, have been charged with aiding the escape of the two men.
Prisoner Grant, who is facing drugs and weapons charges, was captured May 11, dressed as a woman in head-to-toe in Muslim clothing, authorities said.
