Offender Jonathan M. Lechner (#1134193) died Wednesday night at Pasquotank Correctional Institution after an apparent suicide.
He was found unresponsive in his cell at 9:06 p.m.
Prison medical staff and local paramedics responded and performed life-saving measures in attempts to resuscitate the offender. He was taken by EMS to an outside medical facility where he was pronounced dead. DPS officials and local law enforcement are investigating the incident.
Press Releases
On Tuesday, July 7, at 5:33 am, the State Highway Patrol responded to a fatal vehicle collision on NC 50 at Old Drug Store Road. A 2016 Dodge Charger was traveling north on NC 50 when it struck a pedestrian who was believed to be sitting in the travel lanes. The pedestrian died as a result of his injuries. The pedestrian has yet to be identified and is described as a Hispanic male in his mid-20’s to early-30’s. He is approximately 5’7 and has tattoos of a scorpion and a cross on his left arm.
The North Carolina Department of Public Safety is continuing its efforts to contain and reduce the spread of COVID-19 in state prisons by conducting testing of the offender population statewide. This week mass offender population testing will be conducted at the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women (NCCIW) in Raleigh.
The State Highway Patrol is continuing to investigate a serious collision involving one of its members from today in Charlotte. On Saturday, July 4, at approximately 8:36 am, Trooper Adolfo A. Lopez-Alcedo was struck while assisting with a follow up collision investigation that occurred the previous day. As Trooper Lopez-Alcedo was beginning a shutdown of the I-485 Outer Loop near the 21-mile marker, he was struck while outside of his patrol vehicle.
In anticipation of the July Fourth holiday weekend, the State Highway Patrol is encouraging motorists to drive responsibly when traveling to their intended destinations.
The State of North Carolina and FEMA have approved $2.9 million to reimburse the North Carolina Department of Transportation for debris removal costs following Hurricane Florence.
Funds for this project cover the removal of hurricane-related debris in Chatham, Hoke, Lee, Montgomery, Moore, Randolph, Richmond and Scotland counties. Debris removal included more than 7,800 tons of vegetation and 1,800 tons of soil and sand from NCDOT roads.
The approval brings the total to more than $40 million to reimburse the NCDOT for Hurricane Florence-related expenses.
The State of North Carolina and FEMA have approved $2.9 million to reimburse the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services for mosquito abatement costs following Hurricane Florence.
Funds for this project cover abatement costs in the state’s hurricane-affected areas. The department acted after anticipating a high number of mosquitoes due to historic flooding and warm temperatures.
Two offenders who escaped Thursday night from the Catawba Correctional Center in Newton were captured around 12:30 p.m. today without incident at the Baymont by Wyndham hotel in nearby Hickory.
Minimum custody offenders Nhia Vue (#1093002) and Juan McDonald (#1132541) will face escape charges.
Vue, 28, was serving a seven-year, nine-month sentence for drug trafficking and had been scheduled for release on April 24, 2025. McDonald, 35, was serving a three-year, five-month sentence for speeding to elude arrest and had been scheduled for release on Nov. 6, 2020.
The State Highway Patrol is requesting assistance from the public in locating a hit-and-run vehicle responsible for the death of a pedestrian in Cumberland County. On Thursday, May 21, troopers were called to NC 87 near Sand Hill Rd where they located Timothy Wayne Slade, 51, of Hope Mills. Investigators determined Mr. Slade was walking northbound on NC 87 in the roadway when he was struck from behind by a vehicle traveling in the same direction.
State correctional and local law enforcement officers from Newton and the Catawba Sheriff’s Office are seeking Catawba Correctional Center, minimum custody offender Nhia Vue (#1093002), who was reported missing from the facility June 25. Vue was last seen in the yard at approximately 9 p.m.