Violent criminal escapes juvenile custody, sparks outrage, safety concerns in Shreveport
By Johnette Magner
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SHREVEPORT, Louisiana (KTBS) — The Caddo District Attorney’s office has lambasted the Louisiana Office of Juvenile Justice (OJJ), accusing the state agency of failing to notify law enforcement about a convicted, violent criminal who escaped from state custody.
When he was just 13 years old, Anthony Mandigo Jr. was convicted of armed robbery of a Raceway gas station and conspiracy to commit armed robbery in connection with the shooting death of pizza delivery man Lester McGee.
It has been five years since Mandigo was convicted, and Mandigo is free, not because he served his time or was released early, but because on Sept. 8, he escaped from Youth Oasis Transitional Living, a group home in South Louisiana.
Shreveport police say they did not learn about the escape until last week.
“There’s a state system to alert law enforcement, and then they alert the media,” said Wilbert Pryor, chief deputy district attorney for Caddo Parish. “We have victims, victims’ families. People have a right to know.”
Mandigo has been in the custody of the Louisiana Office of Juvenile Justice since his conviction. During that time, he has escaped four times. He was also reportedly caught beating up a man and making threats in a video posted on Instagram last year.
Still, the OJJ opted to put him under non-secure care, which their website calls a “less restrictive means of providing custody” for those who “do not pose a large threat to public safety.” Within days of arriving in the group home in September, Mandigo was gone.
“He’s extremely dangerous,” said Pryor. “He committed two violent offenses at age 13.”
Shreveport police are asking that anyone with knowledge of his whereabouts to contact them at 318-673-7300.
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