Teenager awaiting trial in 2020 homicide flees outside Philadelphia hospital

PHILADELPHIA — Authorities were searching Wednesday for a teenager awaiting trial in a murder case who escaped outside a Philadelphia hospital and was considered dangerous.

Police said 17-year-old Shane Pryor fled just before noon Wednesday from a vehicle in the driveway of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia emergency room, where he had been taken with a hand injury.

“From our investigation so far, we know, based on a lot of video footage, that he was able to get in and out of a number of buildings in this area,” Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore told reporters. Pryor was seen talking to people “asking for a phone… whatever he could do to get out of the area,” he said.

Police searched the buildings and used dogs to search large multi-storey car parks, but no lockdowns had been imposed, he said. Police said Pryor should be considered dangerous and warned people not to approach him but to call 911. Officers also checked the houses of his relatives in other parts of the city, Vanore said.

Pryor was 14 when he was charged with murder in October 2020 and has been in a juvenile facility since then; he is charged with murder, conspiracy and gun crimes, among other crimes. He was described as 6 feet tall and 180 pounds and was wearing a blue tracksuit and sandal-like footwear with socks.

Defense attorney Paul DiMaio said his client has “always maintained his innocence,” even in his initial statement to police. He said a judge in December rejected a bid to move the case back to juvenile court, which could have something to do with his client’s decision to flee.

“Maybe he felt like he wasn’t going to get a fair chance,” DiMaio said.