Shane Pryor, 17-year-old murder suspect, will face new charges following his four-day escape from custody

The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office said Monday they will charge Shane Pryor for his escape from authorities last week that launched a four-day manhunt and for assaulting a teacher at the Juvenile Justice Services Center.

Pryor, 17, will be charged with escape, aggravated assault, hindering apprehension, simple assault, and recklessly endangering another person for breaking free from custody Wednesday afternoon while being taken to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, a spokesperson for the District Attorney’s Office said.

Additionally, Pryor, who prosecutors say fatally shot a 54-year-old woman in Northeast Philadelphia in 2020, will be charged with aggravated assault, making terroristic threats, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person, for attacking a teacher in the Juvenile Justice Services Center on January 9.

The teacher did not report the incident to police until after Pryor escaped, due to threats he allegedly made that made her fear for her safety, the District Attorney’s Office spokesperson said.

Pryor was captured around 6:30 p.m. Sunday, near Third Street and Roosevelt Boulevard, while U.S. Marshals were conducting surveillance and spotted him boarding a SEPTA bus. Marshals stopped the bus and took Pryor into custody without incident and he was taken to the Philadelphia Police Department’s Homicide Unit.

When Pryor was apprehended and officers patted him down, they found a small black handcuff key, Supervising Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert Clark said Sunday night.

It is unclear how Pryor obtained the key and whether he used it to unlock his restraints. Police continue to investigate the escape.

A spokesperson for the city’s Department of Human Services, which operates the Juvenile Justice Services Center, did not respond directly to questions about the handcuff key or whether any staffers had been disciplined or questioned regarding Pryor’s escape, but confirmed an internal investigation is being conducted

“As part of the investigation, relevant policies, procedures, and practices will be reviewed and a determination made as to whether changes are warranted,” the spokesperson said Monday.

The spokesperson declined to comment on the Jan. 9 incident, citing the ongoing investigation.

In a phone call before a Sunday night hearing, Pryor said he was tired from evading capture for days, said Paul DiMaio, his attorney, on Monday. DiMaio said he did not know how Pryor got the key or if he used it to free himself.

After a 10 p.m. Sunday hearing conducted via conference call, Common Pleas Court Judge Barbara A. McDermott decided Pryor would be taken to an adult prison facility, said DiMaio. McDermott made the decision because she said the Juvenile Justice Center or any juvenile detention facility would not be able to guarantee an escape wouldn’t happen again, he said.

It is unclear where Pryor is being held.

Pryor’s capture after four days on the lam brings with it several questions that remain unanswered, namely did anyone help him escape? How did Pryor get the black handcuff key law enforcement found on him when he was apprehended? And did he use the key to unlock his shackles?

His escape led to the arrest of an alleged accomplice and renewed focus on the city’s embattled jail system.

Pryor was handcuffed and shackled before he was driven from the juvenile detention center to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for a hand injury on Wednesday, authorities said.

After arriving at CHOP just before noon, Pryor was able to break from his shackles and push past two unarmed staffers, fleeing on foot, police said. Pryor then went in and out of area buildings before approaching a bystander, claiming he had been in a fight and asking the bystander to use their phone, police said.

He called his friend Michael Diggs, 18, who picked him up in a tan Ford Fusion by 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, serving as his getaway driver and getting him out of the University City neighborhood as law enforcement combed the area searching for him.

Authorities were able to track Pryor and Diggs to the Olney section of the city, Clark said.

Diggs was pulled over driving the Ford Fusion Wednesday night, police said, and Pryor was not in the car at the time. Diggs was charged Friday with hindering a police investigation, escape, criminal conspiracy, and related crimes for his role in the escape. Diggs is being held at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, according to court records.

Pryor and Diggs met about a year prior at the Juvenile Justice Services Center, where Diggs had been in custody for an attempted murder charge. A judge tossed Diggs’ case for lack of evidence. Last week, a law enforcement source told The Inquirer that the two former cellmates had stayed in touch in the months leading up to Pryor’s escape.

Law enforcement solicited tips and information about Pryor and his whereabouts, which resulted in evidence that led agents to stake out an area near Hunting Park that Pryor had been going to since he escaped custody, said Clark. Sunday evening, agents saw a public transit rider that matched the teen’s description between the Feltonville and Olney neighborhoods.

Pryor was being held in connection with the murder of Tanya Harris, 54, in October 2020. Police said Pryor and Kiyan Williams, then-15, met Harris in an alleyway and paid for sex before fatally shooting Harris. The teen told police he was present in the alley at the time of the shooting, but did not pull the trigger, according to the affidavit of probable cause.

Pryor’s mother and DiMaio said the teen has always maintained his innocence. A hearing is scheduled for February 15 for Harris’ murder, said DiMaio.

Staff writer Samantha Melamed contributed to this article.