13-year-old suspect in double homicide case flees North Carolina courthouse while still wearing leg restraints

A 13-year-old suspect in a double murder has reportedly escaped from a courthouse in North Carolina, authorities say.

The teenager, identified only as Jericho W because he is a minor, bolted from a Juvenile Court around noon Tuesday, per the Robeson County Sheriff's Office.

He is a co-defendant in a double homicide case with 19-year-old Derick Deshawn Hunt, and both are charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the killings of two brothers, Frank, 34, and Adam Thomas, 33. The bodies of the victims were found inside a home last month with several gunshot wounds.

That said, Jericho is also facing a charge of robbery with a dangerous weapon, and according to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, he is a potential danger to himself and others.

"Division officials have a high degree of concern for the safety of both the juvenile and the public, due to a prior history of assaultive and unpredictable behavior," the department said.

The teenager was last seen in a white T-shirt and beige pants. While he wasn't wearing shoes, he had leg restraints on.

Jericho is described as standing about 5 feet tall, weighing about 110 pounds, with brown eyes and brown hair.

"He's 13 years old and out here in the dark," Nikki Jacobs, his mother, told WRAL. "My baby's out here somewhere, nobody knows, and he is all alone and hopefully he is safe wherever he is at."

"I just wish that he would come back ... turn himself in and get the help that he needs," she added.

Speaking to ABC11, Jacobs said the county was to blame for her son's predicament.

"You're telling the social workers and the mental health workers and the social services that that's what your problem is and you're calling them every day. Then that's something that should've been done a long time ago," the embattled mother said. "But they going to wait until he's charged with these other charges."

He was last spotted at the intersection of North Carolina Highway 72 and Country Club Road in Lumberton.

Troops of US Marshals from Wilmington and Fayetteville joined hands with police officers from Lumberton and Robeson County Sheriff's Office to search for the teenager. Meanwhile, the Bladen County Sheriff's Office and the Brunswick County Sheriff's Office deployed helicopters to aid the search efforts.