LAKE CHARLES, La. — A former New Orleans middle school teacher charged with helping one of her students escape from custody pleaded “no contest” Tuesday in Calcasieu Parish to a charge of accessory to escape.

Filardo will be sentenced for helping Lynell Reynolds after he walked away from a juvenile halfway house where he had almost completed a juvenile life sentence, until age 21, for attempted murder and armed robbery.

Reynolds, 20, is now serving an additional five-year sentence after pleading guilty as an adult in the 2023 escape. Reynolds had previously been convicted in a gut-wrenching case that provided a rare glimpse into the inner workings of New Orleans Juvenile Court.

Reynolds was 13 years old when he shot Darrell Scott in the back after robbing him, leaving Scott paralyzed fr

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