A woman accused of helping an escaped prisoner appears in a North Carolina court

ORANGE COUNTY, N.C. (AP) — A woman accused of helping a North Carolina inmate escape from police after he escaped from a transport van appeared in court Monday.

Jacobia Crisp has been charged with aiding and abetting an escape and harboring an escapee for allegedly helping Ramone Alston evade police last week, the Orange County Sheriff's Office said. The Burlington resident now faces more than five years in prison if convicted on both counts, local media reports.

Alston was the focus of a high-profile manhunt after he broke free of his shackles and escaped from a transport van in Hillsborough on Tuesday. The 30-year-old was at UNC's Gastrointestinal Medicine Clinic for a doctor's appointment when he fled, according to the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction.

Alston, who is currently serving a life sentence at the Bertie Correctional Institution in Windsor, North Carolina, was previously convicted in the killing of 1-year-old Maleah Williams. Maleah was shot in a drive-by shooting while playing outside her family's Chapel Hill apartment on Christmas Day 2015 and died three days later, authorities said.

After three days of intensive searches by various agencies, including the FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service, Alston was arrested Friday at a Kannapolis hotel, according to the sheriff's office. He was transferred to the state's most secure maximum security unit in Granville County and could face additional charges, officials said.

Crisp was arrested later Friday in Alamance County, authorities said. The 32-year-old posted her $30,000 bail the same day, according to court records.

As for her relationship with Alston, Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood said during a news conference Friday that the two began communicating primarily by phone several months ago. She was initially described as Alston's acquaintance.

Crisp's next hearing is scheduled for September 13.