Man sentenced for escaping a Philadelphia prison after being involved in 4 murders

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A man who escaped a Philadelphia prison where he was being held on murder charges was sentenced to 55 to 110 years in prison, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office announced Thursday.

Between December 2020 and March 2021, Ameen Hurst, 20, was involved in four separate murder cases while he was still a juvenile, including the murder of 20-year-old Rodney Hargrove roughly an hour after he was released from the Curran Fromhold Correctional Facility on March 18.

Hurst committed the crimes when he was a member of the Young Bag Chasers gang, and Hargrove’s death was due to the gang targeting a rival gang member who was set to be released that day.

During a news conference Thursday, Hargrove’s grandfather, John E. Hargrove Jr., said while his family is glad to have seen Hurst brought to justice, his death has left a huge impact on his loved ones.

“Our family is saying that they’re glad that he got what he got. I’m not,” Hargrove Jr. said. “I would love to see him rot in hell. If I had to go there to see him right now, I would do it. That’s how much I despise this young man because he took so much from me.”

Hurst was arrested in April 2021 and charged with a series of robberies and the murders of Dyewou Scruggs, 20, Naquan Smith, 24, and Tamir Brown, 17.

In May 2023, Hurst and Nasir Grant escaped the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center while awaiting trial. Hurst fled to New York City where he recorded music before returning to Philly, where he was captured May 17.

District Attorney Larry Krasner called Hurst one of the most dangerous people incarcerated in the Curran Fromhold Correctional Facility.

“It is unlikely he will ever live outside of state prison, but we will let people who consider these things in 55 years consider it if it even comes to that,” Krasner said.

Hurst was sentenced by Judge Scott O’Keefe in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County.

Editor’s note: The original version of this story incorrectly stated Hurst was sentenced by the District Attorney’s Office.