Convicted murderer’s sister in court on charge she helped him flee Orange County

A convicted murderer’s sister made her first appearance in court Thursday after being charged Wednesday with helping him escape custody outside a Hillsborough hospital.

Monique Brady, 43, of Graham is charged with felony aiding and abetting a fugitive and felony harboring an escapee, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.

She was released from the Orange County jail on Wednesday after posting a $30,000 secured bond but faces over five years in prison if convicted of both charges.

Brady turned to face reporters as she waited outside the second-floor courtroom for an elevator Thursday but did not answer any questions.

Her brother Ramone Jamarr Alston, 30, was serving a life sentence for the Christmas Day murder of 14-month-old Maleah Williams in 2015 in Chapel Hill.

Alston knocked one of two officers to the ground on Aug. 13 as he fled a state Department of Adult Correction transport van in the UNC Hospitals parking lot in Hillsborough, sparking a three-day manhunt.

Alston, who was being taken to the hospital for a medical appointment, was restrained during the trip by leg shackles and handcuffs attached via a bellychain to a junction box at his waist. He was able to remove the leg shackles on the ride to Hillsborough, officials have said.

FBI agents, Charlotte SWAT officers, and Kannapolis and Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers helped to capture Alston early Friday morning at a hotel in Kannapolis, about 25 miles northeast of Charlotte.

2nd woman previously arrested

Authorities also arrested Jacobia Crisp, 32, of Burlington, on Friday on felony charges of aiding and abetting a fugitive and harboring an escapee. Crisp appeared in an Orange County courtroom Monday, where she was assigned a public defender.

Crisp was released from Alamance County on a $30,000 bond shortly after her arrest and is expected to return to court Sept. 13. If found guilty on both charges, Crisp could also face over five years in prison.

Crisp declined to answer media questions after leaving the courtroom Monday.

Sheriff Charles Blackwood has said he does not know the relationship between Alston and Crisp, but that it developed via telecommunications over several months.

Transferred to secure prison unit

Alston, who previously was being held at Bertie Correctional Institution, was transferred to Granville Correctional Institution — the state’s highest security unit — after his capture.

A Department of Adult Correction team will review his escape and the law enforcement response to it, according to DAC Secretary Todd Ishee. The investigation also will look at whether he committed other crimes while on the run or had additional accomplices, sheriff’s officials said.

There is no official estimate yet of the cost to catch Alston. The officers who transported Alston to the hospital have been reassigned to other duties during the investigation.

A date for Alston’s first appearance in court has not been set.

Blackwood said in Wednesday’s news release that the investigation is continuing.

“More arrests are possible,” he said. “We owe it to our community and Maleah’s family to hold everyone who assisted Alston accountable for the danger and fear their actions caused.”

Anyone with information about Alston’s escape can contact Orange County Sheriff’s Sgt. Goodwin at 919-245-2918.