NEW ORLEANS — Days after changing her plea to guilty and subsequently attacked in court, Shanyka Phillips was sentenced to four years each on two counts to be served concurrently for her role in helping her boyfriend escape from the deadly house fire that killed his three children in New Orleans East last October.
Joseph Washington, the father of all three victims, purposely set the fire that ended the lives of 8-year-old Joseph Washington Jr., 5-year-old Jayla Washington and 3-year-old Avery Washington.
Phillips was indicted in March and charged with accessory to first-degree murder and aggravated arson.
In a statement made at the sentencing, WWL Louisiana's Alyssa Curtis reported Phillips said she’s sorry and feels awful.
"Prosecutors learned that Phillips went to the scene of this horrible arson ... just as defendant Washington was fleeing the scene, she was observed at that crime scene by multiple witness," said Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams at the time of her indictment.
According to Washington's own family members, Washington had been trying to run away from police after the fire.
DA Williams said that when NOPD caught up with Washington and arrested him the next day, Phillips was there with the murder suspect.
"After fleeing the scene, Washington later drove to the Westbank where Phillips, then again, was present – picked him up, drove him away with the knowledge of what he'd just done," Williams said. "There are no words for something this odious."
Washington is serving a life sentence in prison after pleading guilty to murder charges.
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