The older sister of a convicted murderer who escaped custody in Orange County appeared in court on Thursday afternoon.
Monique Brady was silent going into court on Thursday.
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According to the Orange County Sheriff's Office, deputies arrested the 43-year-old woman on Wednesday and charged her with aiding and abetting a fugitive and harboring an escapee. It carries a maximum of five years in prison if she's found guilty of the charges.
The sheriff's office said Brady is the sister of Ramone Alston, who escaped custody on Aug. 13 while being transported to UNC Hospital's Hillsborough campus.
"Report accurately," Brady said as she left court in an elevator.
Authorities caught Alston on Aug. 16 in the Kannapolis area after more than three days on the run. They later charged another woman, Jacobia Crisp, with helping him escape and hide from authorities.
Investigators haven't revealed how they believe Brady was involved. A judge placed Brady in the Orange County Detention Center under a $30,000 secured bond.
On Thursday, Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood said there's a chance authorities are still looking for additional people who helped Alston escape other than Brady and Crisp.
"It's still being investigated that someone else or maybe someone else could have assisted in this," Blackwood said.
From 2017-2019, Brady was a part-time teacher at Cedar Ridge High School in Hillsborough. Brady was a substitute teacher for the district from 2019-2022. She also served as a cheerleading coach at Cedar Ridge High School and Gravelly Hill Middle School in Efland.
Blackwood is not providing information to WRAL News' questions about how Brady was arrested, her role in helping Alston escape and her relationship with Crisp.
"Folks, I know you want details and I understand that we want details too," Blackwood said. "To say that we have enough to take these people into custody is absolute.
"What comes next, we all have to wait for."
Alston was convicted in 2018 of shooting and killing 1-year-old Maleah Williams on Christmas Day in 2015. Maleah was shot while playing outside her family's apartment in Chapel Hill and died three days later after she was taken off life support.
After his capture, Alston was taken to Granville Correctional Center, which North Carolina Department of Adult Correction Secretary Todd Ishee called the most secure in the state's prison system. Alston will be charged with felony escape from prison. He will resume serving his life sentence and, if convicted on the escape charges, that sentence would be added on.
Hundreds of people and dozens of law enforcement agencies had been involved in the search for Alston. Authorities searched 1,335 acres in the first two days and had conducted door-to-door searches and looked through neighborhoods, woods and creeks.
According to Blackwood, the investigation is ongoing and more charges are possible.
"We owe it to our community and Maleah's family to hold everyone who assisted Alston accountable for the danger and fear their actions caused," he said.
On Thursday, WRAL News asked Blackwood if he's had a chance to reflect on the search for Alston. Blackwood knew both Alston and Williams' family.
"I think the unique thing about the role of sheriff, you are selected by your community to take care of the public safety," Blackwood said. "Generally, the sheriff knows pretty much folks in their community.
"So, the fact that I know them is really not remarkable. The fact that I knew his father was not remarkable. I grew up with him, growing up in this community, which I did. I've lived here my entire life. You know folks within your community. That's one of the platforms that I ran on, that I was intimately familiar with my community. So, I don't think that's remarkable. I'll say it didn't really assist in any way in this particular investigation, other than I knew that this individual was dangerous, but that's kind of again, self explanatory."
Authorities are still working to see if anyone else was involved in Alston's escape. The Orange County Sheriff's Office asked anyone with information to call 919-324-1082.