AMMAN — Ministry of Social Development officials on Monday said they were still searching for a minor who fled from a juvenile correctional centre earlier this month while being tried for murder at a juvenile court.

The 16-year-old suspect escaped from the Usama Bin Zeid Correctional and Rehabilitation Centre in Ruseifa by climbing over the wall on December 5, Social Development Ministry Spokesperson Hussein Emoush told The Jordan Times on Monday.

“The centre is not guarded because it is aimed at rehabilitating and aiding juveniles who violate the law. It is not a prison,” Emoush explained.

The ministry official said they were hopeful that the teenager would eventually be caught.

The suspect allegedly murdered the 65-year-old owner of a TV production company and set his body ablaze in the Amman neighbourhood of Dahiyat Al Rashid on September 7.

The boy told police that the victim had abused him, according to official sources who spoke to The Jordan Times shortly after the body was discovered.

The teenager claimed that he would run errands for the victim and that on the day of the murder they had an argument about his services and the victim mistreated him, official sources said at the time.

In his initial confession, the teenager said he had struck the victim on the head with a blunt object and killed him, according to officials.

The boy then placed the victim’s body in the trunk of his car and asked another friend to drive it to a remote area in Dahiyat Al Rashid, officials said.

He placed the body in the backseat and set the car on fire, then headed to his home in one of the northern governorates where he was arrested less than 12 hours after the body was discovered.