A wheelchair-bound New Orleans shooting victim lives in fear after discovering that the teenager who paralyzed him escaped after being moved to an unsecured facility, despite prosecutors’ objections.
Darrelle Scott said he is now constantly looking over his shoulder, fearful that 17-year-old Lynell Reynolds will return to finish the job he started in 2019 when he shot Scott during a robbery in The Big Easy.
“I died like twice on the table,” Scott told FOX 8 of his touch-and-go treatment after the shooting. “Who’s to say he didn’t run away to come find me.”
The victim also criticized officials for not immediately informing him of the escape, and Scott only found out nine days later, after his friends alerted him to a now-deleted social media post of Reynolds roaming free.
Reynolds, who was 13 at the time of the shooting, was initially sentenced to a state juvenile facility until he turned 21, but last year, Juvenile Judge Candice Anderson ordered him to remain in an unsecured group home as part of his rehabilitation. .
Lynell Reynolds was arrested in 2019 when he was just 13 years old for shooting a man he was assaulting. FOX 8 WVUE Victim Darrelle Scott was left paralyzed by the shooting and only learned of her attacker’s escape after her friends alerted him to a social media post. FOX 8 WVUE
The fugitive escaped from the group home in Lake Charles on Sept. 13, and Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams discovered the escape on Friday, around the same time Scott did.
“Unfortunately, neither the court nor the Office of Juvenile Justice informed my office of the escape,” Williams said in a statement. “It is our sincere hope that Lynell Reynolds is detained without harm to community members or law enforcement.”
The prosecutor said his office had worked with Scott’s grandmother, Dorothy White, to repeatedly oppose any early release of Reynolds from a secure facility “due to the violent nature of the crime and the threat of harm felt by this victim’s family.” “.
Juvenile Judge Candice Anderson ordered Reynolds to remain in an unsecured group home as part of his rehabilitation. Facebook Prosecutors had demanded that Reynolds be kept under lock and key at the New Orleans Juvenile Justice Center’s juvenile justice facility. FOX 8 WVUE
Williams warned that his office would prosecute any individual who helps Reynolds evade the law.
White said she was disturbed when she saw Reynolds’ social media post being released from custody, criticizing Anderson for allowing the teen to be in a position where he could easily escape.
“Lynell will get her life back if she wants to change… but because Judge Anderson is giving Lynell so many chances, no one is giving Darrelle any chances or help,” he told Fox 8.
Scott laments the situation he finds himself in now, with the stress of his potential killer on the loose affecting his focus on physical therapy.
Scott is currently undergoing physical therapy to walk again after four years tied to his wheelchair. FOX 8 WVUE
The shooting victim is currently trying to relearn how to walk, adding that her personal goal is to be out of the house in seven years, when her nephew turns 10.
“Even if it’s tufted or with a walker, at least I’ll be more independent than just tied to my wheelchair.”
The Orleans Juvenile Justice Office did not immediately respond to the Post’s request for comment.
An arrest warrant has since been issued for Reynold in Orleans Parish.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn