Teen accused of killing his mom escapes California jail

By The Associated Press

ORANGE, Calif. — Dozens of law enforcement personnel were searching Friday for a 15-year-old boy who was in the middle of a murder trial in the killing of his mother when he escaped a Southern California jail.

Ike Souzer escaped the Orange County Juvenile Hall and jumped a perimeter fence just after midnight, said sheriff’s Capt. Mike Peters.

The 6-foot-tall, 200-pound teen was wearing red pants and a white shirt and may have an injured leg, Peters said, adding that surveillance footage showed Souzer tending to an apparent wound after his escape.

Peters said about 60 law enforcement officials were searching for Souzer. He said there’s no evidence that Souzer was armed but urged the public to call 911 if they think they’ve spotted him.

Souzer has been in custody since he was 13, when he was arrested on suspicion of fatally stabbing his mother, 48-year-old Barbra Scheuer-Souzer. His escape came in the middle of Souzer’s trial, said Kimberly Edds, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office.

Steve Sentman, chief probation officer for the county, declined to release too many details about the escape, citing security reasons, but said that Souzer somehow got out of a locked room before he was able to scale the jail’s perimeter fence.

He said it’s the first escape from the 434-bed facility in at least two decades and that an investigation is under way into how it happened.

A Gofundme page for Scheuer-Souzer says she was so good at helping her son with autism that she went back to school to help others with the condition. It says she was about to graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles.

“Through her unconditional love and commitment, she helped her son go from non-verbal to verbal status,” according to the page. “Her whole goal was to help her son and the autistic community by giving back and serving the needs of others.”

Scheuer-Souzer had three other grown children and three grandchildren.

The Associated Press

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