Authorities allege the former middle school teacher of a Louisiana teen convicted of attempted murder helped facilitate his escape from a youth group home and drove him to Texas.
Authorities in the parishes of Calcasieu and Orleans, Louisiana, have charged Angela Filardo, 32, with accessory after the fact, in connection with the September 2023 breakout of 18-year-old Lynell Reynolds, according to court records, WVUE-TV and WWL-TV reported.
Filardo pleaded not guilty.
As part of his original sentence, Reynolds was serving time in a Lake Charles, Louisiana halfway house for the attempted murder and armed robbery of then 21-year-old Darrelle Scott in 2019. Reynolds, who was 13 at the time, shot Scott in the back, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.
Reynolds was weeks away from a potential early release when he fled state custody last year, according to WWL.
Authorities allege Filardo, who taught Reynolds from fifth through eighth grade, drove him from New Orleans to San Antonio, where he was captured following a three-week manhunt.
"She helped a felon," Scott's grandmother, Dorthy White, told WGNO-TV. "There are all types of evidence that shows what she did and how she helped him escape."
"There has not been any accountability for what Angela Filardo has done to my grandson. Darelle is in a lot of pain. He suffers from post-traumatic stress. He is not here today because of those same reasons," she said.
A judge ruled Reynolds will remain in custody until he turns 21.
Meanwhile, Filardo was released from a Calcasieu Parish jail on $100,000 bond Tuesday.
Her trial in Orleans Parish was pushed back to Sept. 30.
