ORANGE COUNTY, N.C. — A woman accused of helping a convicted murderer during his escape last week refused to answer questions Monday during her first court appearance, WNCN reports.
Jacobia Crisp, 32, was charged with aiding and abetting a fugitive and harboring an escapee for her alleged role in helping Ramone Alston elude law enforcement last week, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Office. She posted a $30,000 bond shortly after her arrest on Friday.
The Burlington woman now faces more than five years in state prison if convicted of both felony charges, according to local media outlets.
Crisp began a relationship with Alston several months ago, mostly by phone, according to investigators. Authorities said she drove the escaped prisoner around, but didn't say where.
Alston was the center of a highly publicized manhunt after he freed himself from his leg restraints and escaped out of a transport van in Hillsborough on Tuesday. The 30-year-old was at UNC Gastrointestinal Medicine for a medical appointment when he fled, according to the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction.
Currently serving a life sentence at Bertie Correctional Institution in Windsor, North Carolina, Alston was previously convicted in the killing of 1-year-old Maleah Williams. Maleah was shot on Christmas Day in 2015 from a passing car while she was playing outside her family’s apartment in Chapel Hill, and she later died three days later, authorities said.
After three days of extensive searching by various agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Marshals Service, Alston was captured at a hotel in Kannapolis on Friday. Authorities said he was staying under a female's name. He was transferred to the state's most secure maximum control unit in Granville County and could face additional charges, officials said.
Crisp has been ordered to have no contact with Alston. Her next hearing is scheduled for Sept. 13.
Investigators are still working to learn if anyone else helped Alston escape.