A Pineville, North Carolina, man has been charged with first-degree murder after police say he broke into his ex-girlfriend’s apartment and fatally stabbed their 5-year-old son before being arrested at a nearby Taco Bell.
A domestic call after midnight
Pineville police responded shortly after midnight last Thursday to the Sabal Point Apartments following a report of an assault with a deadly weapon. Officers arrived to find the boy suffering from multiple stab wounds and began emergency medical care on the scene before driving him to the hospital themselves in a patrol car rather than waiting for an ambulance. He was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
Investigators identified the suspect as 31 year old Jehaaz-Akil Khaliq Echoles, the child’s father. According to an arrest affidavit, the boy’s mother told police Echoles broke into the apartment, walked into their son’s bedroom and shut the door behind him.
A history of violence before the attack
The mother told investigators she heard a commotion from the bedroom and opened the door, at which point Echoles fled the apartment. She found her son bleeding and unresponsive, with stab wounds to his head, neck and arms, and immediately called 911. The mother and another child who were also in the home at the time were not hurt.
Police say Echoles has a documented history of assault allegations predating this attack. He was convicted in 2020 of assaulting a woman in North Carolina and has faced additional assault related cases since, including two this year involving women. In one, he is accused of beating a woman with a belt. In another, he allegedly threw keys at a woman after refusing to return a car he had borrowed from her.
Arrest at a nearby restaurant
Officers located Echoles a short time later at a Taco Bell near the apartment complex and took him into custody with assistance from Charlotte-Mecklenburg police. He declined to speak with detectives following his arrest…