Escaped NC killer caught at motel after 3 days on the run; woman also arrested

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — After 3 days on the run, an escaped murderer is back in custody, the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction said.

According to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, escaped murderer Ramone Alston was captured shortly before 2 a.m. Friday at the Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham on Cloverleaf Parkway in Kannapolis, just off I-85, in an operation that included FBI, Charlotte SWAT agents, Kannapolis Police and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police.  He was taken into custody without injuries to anyone.

Shortly thereafter, a female acquaintance, Jacobia Crisp, was arrested in Alamance County and charged with felony aiding and abetting a fugitive along with harboring an escapee. She was given a $30,000 bond but has since posted bond.

Authorities say the two checked in to the hotel under Crisp’s name on Wednesday.

Alston, serving a life sentence for the 2015 murder of 1-year-old Maleah Williams, escaped custody when corrections officers were transporting him from Bertie Correctional Institution to UNC Gastroenterology in Hillsborough to receive medical care on Aug. 13.

A hotel worker captured video overnight, showing Alston being taken into custody just outside of Charlotte.

“I found out when I got here at 11 o’clock and my other coworker said at three o’clock when she had come here to her shift, police were here,” said hotel employee Audrey Richardson. “They were looking for him, found out that he was here at our hotel, had stayed under a female’s name and then she had showed me a picture of him. And that’s when I realized I had been interacting with him on Wednesday and my shift. And no red flags.”

Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood said Crisp and Alston began their relationship several months ago, mostly by phone.

But officials won’t say what led them to that hotel.

 “We operate sometimes in our silos,” Blackwood said. “What this operation has given us an opportunity to do is break down those silos and work better together.”

Right now, the two guards who were transporting Alston when he escaped have been reassigned to non-transport duties.

Investigators are still working to learn if anyone else helped Alston in his escape. 

Blackwood also spoke on the community impact Friday.

“If I had a magic something to make this all be better, I would hope something good can come from this incident,” he said. “But I think we’ve all worked very hard at this.”

More than a dozen agencies and hundreds of personnel were involved in the search for Alston.

In a press conference Friday afternoon, officials from the Department of Adult Correction, FBI Charlotte field office and United State Marshals Service Eastern District joined Sheriff Blackwood to discuss Alston’s capture, though they couldn’t give details.

“While we can’t provide specifics of how Alston was located, I can assure you it was the result of exceptional investigative work and dedication from the team that was assembled to work this escape,” said Todd Ishee, secretary of the Department of Adult Correction.

Ishee said Alston was captured “without injuring to anyone” and is in a “high security max control unit” at Granville Correctional Center, the most secure facility in the state prison system. Alston will resume his life sentence there, Ishee said. He has been charged with felony escape, but may face additional charges.

An internal investigation and “after action review” will also be instigated by the department to see what could’ve been done better and to prevent an escape from happening in the future, according to Ishee.

All the law enforcement officials who spoke praised the teamwork of everyone involved in the search and capture of Alston.

“I’ve been in law enforcement 22 years and I have never seen an effort like this work with such synchronicity as I have over the past few days,” said Bob DeWitt from the FBI Charlotte field office.

Governor Cooper released a statement after the news of Alston’s capture. He said:

“State, local and federal law enforcement worked quickly to locate and capture Ramone Alston and return him to state custody. I appreciate their coordination and commitment to keeping our communities safe.”