Mother turns over 13-year-old, double-murder suspect son to police after he escapes from juvenile court

A 13-year-old double-homicide suspect's mother turned her son over to police after he escaped custody Tuesday.

The teen is accused of killing two brothers in North Carolina. Authorities charged the teen and a second suspect, 19-year-old Derrick Deshawn Hunt, with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of two North Carolina brothers who were discovered at a home in October.

What are the details?

Mother Nikki Jacobs turned in her 13-year-old, identified as Jericho W., to police on Wednesday night after he escaped a juvenile court on Tuesday.

The Robeson County Sheriff's Office said that the teen escaped wearing a white T-shirt and beige pants. He was shoeless and wearing leg restraints.

According to WRAL-TV, the teen reportedly fled to his grandmother's former home, which is abandoned. He remained there overnight and went to his uncle's home the following day. His uncle, Wayne Lambert, said he provided the teen with a meal and a shower before calling authorities.

In an interview with the station, Lambert — whom the teen apparently calls "Daddy" — said his nephew isn't a "very bad kid."

"I just thank God that he came home to me and I was the one that could put my hands on him before the officials did or anybody else would hurt this child, because he's not a very bad kid," Lambert said. "He's a respectful child."

"When I seen him, I said, 'Baby, you know what we got to do.' He said, 'Daddy, I don't want to go back.' I said, 'I know you don't, baby, and daddy don't want to take you back, but you're going to have to go.' I said, 'Do you understand me?' He said, 'Yes, sir,'" Lambert recalled.

"He said 'Daddy, all I want you to do is feed me and let me take a shower,' and that's what I did for him," he added.

After the teen had showered and eaten, his mother then turned her son over to U.S. Marshals in Lumberton, North Carolina, to complete his surrender. Marshals then transferred the teen to the Cumberland Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Fayetteville.

What's the background?

The teen and Hunt reportedly murdered brothers Frank Thomas, 34, and Adam Thomas, 33, in the brothers' home in October.

"Some have questioned our aggressive enforcement efforts regarding drug offenses in the county, as this is yet another case that has a drug component attached to it," Robeson County Sheriff Burnis Wilkins said at the time. "Unfortunately, some of our youth continue to take the wrong road, and while this murder was an isolated incident, no one deserves to be killed in such a manner."