A man wanted on a first-degree murder charge out of Bertie County was taken into custody Wednesday afternoon after a vehicle pursuit that started in Ahoskie, ending at the intersection of Jernigan Swamp Road and Williford Road. Joshua Mabine was the target of the chase, and the man identified as the vehicle's driver, Jaquan Deloatch, was arrested alongside him.
Mabine was wanted on one count of first-degree murder connected to a shooting in Bertie County, according to WAVY.com. The killing happened on Nowell Farm Road near Meadow Road. Investigators later identified Mabine as a suspect and obtained warrants for his arrest, per a report from WNCT.
Accounts place the initial call on September 9. WAVY reports that the Bertie County Sheriff's Office received the call at 3:51 p.m., with a deputy arriving around 4:03 p.m. and finding Quadarius Holloman dead from multiple gunshot wounds. WITN says Holloman was found dead minutes after 4 p.m., with gunshot wounds.
Chase Ends at Rural Intersection
The pursuit that finally brought Mabine into custody was carried out by the Down East Drug & Violent Crime Task Force, which tracked the vehicle from Ahoskie to the Jernigan Swamp Road and Williford Road intersection before making the arrest, the station notes. Mabine was then transported to the Durham County Jail, where he is being held without bond, per the same account.
Deloatch, identified as the driver of the vehicle, was also taken into custody at the scene and transported to the Hertford County Detention Center. Accounts differ on the exact charge he faces there: one report states he was to be charged with speeding to elude arrest, while another, from WITN, specifies the charge as felony speeding to elude arrest. Under North Carolina law, speeding to elude arrest is addressed by G.S. § 20-141.5, which covers unlawful vehicle operation under the circumstances the statute defines, including provisions for seizure and sale of the vehicle involved.
Multi-Agency Task Force Behind the Arrest
The Down East Drug & Violent Crime Task Force that made the arrest is composed of officers and deputies from four law enforcement agencies: the Ahoskie Police Department, the Hertford County Sheriff's Office, the Gates County Sheriff's Office, and the Northampton County Sheriff's Office, according to the station's report.
Deloatch's name has surfaced in North Carolina law enforcement news before. A man identified as Jaquan Tyliek Deloatch, 33, was previously reported arrested in Murfreesboro after authorities said he fled a traffic stop, according to WCTI12. In that earlier case, authorities said an investigator attempted to stop him for passing in a no-passing zone when he fled at a high rate of speed, and he was found to be in possession of a firearm and narcotics at the time of his arrest, per that report.
Mabine's case remains an active homicide prosecution, and no further court proceedings have been detailed in available reporting.
