Authorities searched for more than eight hours before arresting a teenager suspected of murder who escaped from a juvenile detention center north of Durham in Butner on Monday afternoon.
The Division of Juvenile Justice and Juvenile Delinquency Prevention reported that the 17-year-old escaped from the Dillon Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Granville County around 2 p.m.
Authorities said they were concerned for his safety and the people who might encounter him, saying the teen had a “history of erratic behavior.”
He was arrested again at 10:05 p.m. near Range Road and Robert’s Chapel Road in Butner.
Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman confirmed to ABC11 that the escaped teen has been charged in Wake County with the murder of 71-year-old Jerry Hicks.
Court documents show he was transferred to adult court last August but was now being held without bail at a juvenile detention center in Butner.
ABC11 spoke to the suspect’s grandfather by phone Monday night, who said he knew nothing about the escape and had not been contacted by police.
The teen will be returned to a juvenile detention center operated by the Division of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
