Escaped Murder Suspect Back In OC Juvenile Hall

ORANGE COUNTY, CA —After a 21-hour search, the teenage murder suspect who escaped from juvenile hall in Orange was back in custody Saturday morning.

Ike Souzer, 15, was taken into custody without incident at 9 p.m. Friday at a McDonald's restaurant near the corner of Euclid Street and Glenoaks Avenue in Anaheim, according to Capt. Mike Peters of the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

Souzer's sister, Berlin, defended her Brother's actions.

Early Friday morning, the teenage murder suspect escaped from the Orange County Juvenile Hall correctional facility on the 300 block of City Drive South, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

Nearly five dozen personnel, including sheriff's deputies, district attorney's office investigators, and probation officers searched for the youth, who is accused of fatally stabbing his mother at their residence in the 11000 block of Gilbert Street in Garden Grove.

Souzer, who injured his left leg in his escape, left a locked housing unit and made his way over an exterior barbed-wire fence," OCSD spokeswoman Carrie Braun said.

After being taken into custody, Souzer was treated for wounds to aleg, possibly suffered during the escape, Peters said.

Probation officials do head counts every 15 minutes at the 434-bed coed institution, which houses juveniles -- typically between the ages of 12 and 18 -- being detained pending juvenile court hearings. The Probation Department runs the facility.

The boy was known to have connections in both Orange and Riverside counties.

The OCSD is assisted with the Probation Department in the search.

Souzer's sister told KCAL9 her brother was being painted by the media as "someone he's not."

In a Facebook message to the station, she said "he has gone through alot. Mental and physical abuse. He's a troubled teen that needs help. He's not dangerous whatsoever. What he did was self-defense. She beat on him daily."

Read also: 13-Year-Old Fatally Stabs His Mother: Police