PHILADELPHIA — Last year, a man who was charged with four murders got out of jail and was missing for seventy-five days before he was caught. He has now pleaded guilty to the murders and other crimes.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Ameen Hurst, 20, pleaded guilty on Friday to 28 counts, including four counts of third-degree murder, two counts of attempted murder, escape, conspiracy, and firearms crimes. He did this while being chained to a wooden chair.
In 2021, Hurst was 16 years old when he was caught and charged with four murders and two armed robberies. Police said he was connected to two Philadelphia gangs that were working together to cause a wave of violence.
Nasir Grant and Hurst got away from the Philadelphia Industrial Correction Center in northeast Philadelphia in May of last year. After four days, Grant was caught, and Hurst escaped for ten days before he was caught again.
Lawyers for the prosecution said the two broke through a fence around a prison exercise yard and were not seen for almost 19 hours. The authorities also said that motion monitors that were not working and a guard who was not awake were to blame. Several people were also charged with helping the prisoners get away.
Assistant District Attorney Anthony Voci said that officials are happy with how the cases turned out, mostly because the families of the victims will not have to go through a long trial. He did say, though, that it was “hard to imagine that someone 16 years old took the lives of four young people.” “That’s a tragedy in and of itself.”
He also said that Hurst laughed about the killings in calls from jail, which he described as “scary” in its callousness and lack of regret. Assistant District Attorney Brett Zakeosian said that Hurst rented a recording booth and made a new rap song while he was on the run. Hurst has since put the song online.
On Friday, defense lawyer Gary Silver refused to say anything. Hurst should get his sentence in two weeks.
