<bt>A suspect in the murder of Sherine Williams, 24, of Sterling, has been taken into custody in Canton, Ohio, authorities said.
Daunteril Maurice Hall, 28, of Sterling, was arrested at 6:30 p.m. Friday on a federal warrant for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office had been searching for Hall since May 23, when he allegedly struck a Leesburg woman with his fist and a stick. Authorities issued an advisory last week, saying he was a suspect in William’s homicide on Jan. 23.
KRAIG TROXELL, Sheriff’s Office spokesman, said Tuesday that investigators are reviewing evidence with Commonwealth’s Attorney James Plowman and would decide whether to charge Hall with Williams’ murder upon his return. He said the cause of her death will not be released, until a suspect is charged with murder.
Loudoun deputies, the FBI Fugitive Task Force, and three Ohio law-enforcement agencies assisted in the arrest. Hall was wanted on outstanding warrants for felony malicious wounding and obstruction of justice stemming from last year’s incident.
Hall allegedly struck a 29-year-old Leesburg woman once with his fist and several times with a stick, causing “contusions, abrasions and lacerations,” because she refused to give him a ride, Troxell said. First he slugged her and threw her cell phone into the basketball court at Briar Patch Park on Sterling Boulevard in Sterling. When she retrieved it, he attacked her with a stick, he said.
Troxell said they were “acquaintances,” and she called authorities as she drove herself to a hospital.
Troxell said a deputy sheriff spotted Hall on June 6, at a 7-Eleven in Sugarland Run. Hall left his car running and took off on foot. Troxell said the Sheriff’s Office actively searched for Hall for the past seven months until the arrest Friday. Hall attended elementary school in Ohio.
WILLIAMS’ FAMILY found her body in her bathroom about 8 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 23, after entering her home through a window. She lived in a two-bedroom apartment at the Reserve at Town Center. She had last called her family at 5 o’clock the night before. When they did not hear from her on Sunday, they called authorities, who went to the residence about 4 p.m. The deputies knocked on the door and looked around the apartment, but saw nothing suspicious. They lacked the legal authority to break in, because there were no signs of foul play.
Troxell said Williams knew Hall, but he was not sure to what extent. Her boyfriend was serving time in a federal prison, he said.
INVESTIGATORS DECIDED to arrest Hall last week, but learned that he had fled to Ohio and possibly had taken Megan Helm, 18, of Herndon, with him. The Sheriff’s Office issued an advisory that Helm could be in danger.
Authorities caught Hall Friday night after a foot chase in the 1200 block of Logan Avenue in Canton. A K9 found him hiding under a porch. He was treated at a hospital for injuries and released into custody. Helm was found a short time later in good condition at an apartment in the 1400 block of Yale Avenue. She also was arrested and charged with felony larceny of an automobile, which belonged to her parents. Authorities found the white 1998 Volkswagen Jetta in Alliance, Ohio, Saturday. They brought it back to the Sheriff’s Office criminal investigation impoundment lot, Troxell said.
Helm waived extradition Tuesday, according to the prosecutor’s office in Canton. She was being returned to Virginia Tuesday night. Hall’s extradition hearing was scheduled Friday.