Police say the accomplice of 17-year-old escapee Shane Pryor is in custody

In only 40 minutes, 17-year-old Shane Pryor went from being a juvenile in custody in a murder case to being seated in a friend’s car, headed toward freedom.

How long that will last remains to be seen. On Thursday, as Philadelphia law enforcement entered its second day searching for Pryor, investigators made strides in understanding how he escaped from the custody of juvenile jail staff during a visit to a local hospital Wednesday afternoon — and who may have helped him.

Pryor, who is accused of killing a 54-year-old woman three years ago, broke free while being taken to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for a hand injury by two staffers from the Juvenile Justice Services Center. At 11:51 a.m., as Pryor got out of the vehicle, he pushed past the unarmed staffers and fled.

He then ran inside CHOP and asked to use a bystander’s phone, then called a friend to come pick him up, according to three law enforcement sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation. By 12:30 p.m., Pryor’s friend came to get him in a tan Ford Fusion and drove him away from the University City area, U.S. Marshals said.

Authorities took the suspected getaway driver in for questioning Wednesday evening after pulling him over in the same car they believe he used to pick up Pryor, said Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore.

The suspected accomplice has refused to speak with investigators, authorities said.

Vanore declined to identify the man because he has not been charged with any crimes.

Still, a number of questions remained unanswered Thursday, including why Pryor was not shackled when he emerged from the jail staffers’ vehicle.

A spokesperson for the city said it’s standard practice for young people to be handcuffed and shackled while being transported. The matter is under investigation, the spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, Pryor’s mother has asked him to turn himself in. And the family of Tanya Harris, the woman Pryor is accused of killing, said the escape has heightened their trauma.

Within five minutes of evading staff, Pryor walked into the lobby of CHOP’s Hub for Clinical Collaboration and casually leaned against the counter as he spoke with a front desk employee, according to video released by U.S. Marshals on Thursday.

Shortly after, the employee is seen pointing away from the desk as Pryor jogs away, off camera. In a statement, U.S. Marshals said Pryor had asked the employee for use of a phone, but the employee said no. He found a bystander who agreed to allow him to make a call, sources said.

The U.S. Marshals are offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to Pryor’s arrest.

Pryor has been in custody at the juvenile detention center for more than three years as his case made its way through the courts. In 2020, he and another teen, Kiyan Williams, were charged with killing 54-year-old Tanya Harris in an alleyway in Northeast Philadelphia.

On Oct. 10, 2020, police said, Pryor and Williams met with Harris outside a corner store near 7400 Torresdale Ave. The three walked into an alleyway, where Pryor told police he paid Harris for sex, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest.

Surveillance video shows the two teens running out of the alley 10 minutes later, according to the records. A bystander found Harris’ body hours later with a gunshot wound to the head.

According to the affidavit, Pryor told detectives that he was in the alleyway and present during the fatal shooting, but that he did not pull the trigger.

Pryor’s mother said Thursday that her son maintains his innocence. Still, she asked him to turn himself in and said they would get through the case together.

She said her son fled custody because he turns 18 in two weeks and feared being transferred to an adult prison.

“He was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, with the wrong people,” his mother said.

Harris’ family, meanwhile, said the latest developments have reopened old wounds.

In the three years since Harris’ death, her family has followed the court case and waited for closure.

“I want it to be over,” said Harris’ son Gary, 35.

Kashmiera Harris, 38, remembers her mother, who was raised in North and West Philadelphia, as a warm and nurturing presence, and a grandmother to seven children. She said her parents were high school sweethearts.

“It’s really difficult when you lose your parent not because of a sickness, or illness or disease,” she said, “but because someone decided to take her life because of violence.”

During a brief court hearing on Pryor’s case Thursday, Common Pleas Court Judge Barbara McDermott said it is the oldest unresolved juvenile case in the system.

Pryor’s lawyer, Paul Dimaio, said that he recently asked a judge to send the case to juvenile court, but that the request was denied. He said that outcome may have led Pryor to lose hope and flee.