A wheelchair-bound New Orleans shooting victim is living in fear after discovering that the teen who paralyzed him has escaped after being moved to an unsecured facility — despite prosecutors’ objections.
Darrelle Scott said he’s now constantly looking over his shoulder, afraid that Lynell Reynolds, 17, will come back to finish the job he started in 2019 when he shot Scott during a mugging in The Big Easy.
“I died like twice on the table,” Scott told FOX 8 of his touch-and-go treatment following the shooting. “Who’s to say he didn’t escape to come looking for me.”
The victim also slammed officials for failing to immediately inform him of the escape, with Scott only learning about it nine days later after friends alerted him to a now-deleted social media post of Reynolds roaming free.
Reynolds, who was 13 at the time of the shooting, was initially sentenced to a state juvenile facility until he turned 21, but last year, Juvenile Judge Candice Anderson ordered him to stay in an unsecured group home as a part of his rehabilitation.
The fugitive escaped from the group home in Lake Charles on Sept. 13, with Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams discovering the escape on Friday, nearly the same time as Scott.
“Regrettably, my office was not made aware of the escape by the court or the Office of Juvenile Justice,” Williams said in a statement. “We sincerely hope Lynell Reynolds is apprehended without any harm or injury to community members or law enforcement.”
The prosecutor said his office had worked with Scott’s grandmother, Dorothy White, to repeatedly object to any early release for Reynolds from a secured facility “due to the violent nature of the offense and threat of harm felt by this victim’s family.”
Williams warned that his office would prosecute any individual who is helping Reynolds avoid the law.
White said she was disturbed when she saw the social media post of Reynolds free from custody, slamming Anderson for allowing the teen to be in a position where he could easily escape.
“Lynell will get his life back if he wants to change… but with Judge Anderson giving so many chances to Lynell, nobody’s giving chances and help to Darrelle,” she told Fox 8.
Scott laments the situation he now finds himself in, with the stress of his would-be killer on the loose impacting his focus on physical therapy.
The shooting victim is currently trying to re-learn how to walk, adding that it’s his personal goal to be out and about in seven years when his nephew turns 10.
“Even if it’s with walking strands or with a walker, at least I’ll be more independent than just bound to my wheelchair.”
The Orleans Office of Juvenile Justice did not immediately respond to the Post’s request for comment.
A warrant for Reynold’s arrest has since been issued in Orleans Parish.