Preliminary hearing held for alleged accomplices in 2023 Philadelphia prison escape
The prosecution played two calls they say Ameen Hurst made to two accomplices from prison right before he escaped.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- After hearing from five witnesses during a preliminary hearing on Tuesday, a judge held charges for three of the men accused of aiding in a Philadelphia prison escape in May 2023.
Ameen Hurst, 19, and Nasir Grant, 24, escaped from the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center on May 7, 2023.
Four people, 22-year-old Michael Abrams, 21-year-old Xianni Stalling, 35-year-old Jose Flores-Huerta, and 25-year-old Amir Woods, are facing charges including conspiracy, escape, and hindering apprehension for their alleged roles in the escape and aftermath.
The escape happened around 8:30 p.m. on May 7 when Hurst and Grant were seen on surveillance footage cutting a hole in a fence at P.I.C.C., located at 8301 State Road.
Hurst was being held on several murder charges, while Grant was being held on narcotics and gun violations. They were both recaptured days later.
Hurst was in court on Tuesday, but his case was continued to March 25.
Both Grant and Stalling waived their rights to the preliminary hearing.
Grant has a status hearing scheduled for March 7, and Stalling has a status hearing set for April 18.
The details of the case were laid out during Tuesday's hearing.
The prosecution played two calls they say Hurst made to Abrams and Stalling from prison right before he escaped.
In the calls, Hurst tells them, "I'm going to get the *expletive* out of here."
He is also heard asking Abrams to meet him at a bridge by the prison that night.
During that call, Hurst says to Abrams, "I need you to pull through for me."
The prosecution showed a video of Hurst and Grant escaping the facility.
Video played in court showed both men stuffing something into their door locks on the evening of May 7. At around 8:30 p.m., video shows the men leave their respective rooms, crawl through a common area, through a door to an outside area, where they escape through a hole in the fence.
The prosecution showed that as the men fled the facility, fellow prisoner Flores-Huerta stood by and watched.
Once out of the correctional center, surveillance video showed the two prisoners in a Walgreens parking lot at Frankford and Tyson avenues in Mayfair. There, the prosecution says they got into an Uber ordered by Stalling.
The drop-off location for that Uber was in South Philadelphia.
The prosecution says cellphone data shows Stalling, Abrams, and Woods - Hurst's older brother - knew about the escape and hindered the apprehension of both escapees.
The prosecution says a motor vehicle search for Woods' car shows he drove to New York the day after the escape.
Officials previously said his younger brother made it to New York City and back to Philadelphia before he was recaptured.
Woods posted bail after his arrest last May and has been out since.
Woods, Abrams, and Flores-Huerta will be arraigned on February 13 on charges including escape and conspiracy.
