Charles Michael Haywood is seen on surveillance footage, left (via Surf City Police Department), and in a booking photo, right (via Pender County Sheriff’s Office).
A North Carolina man is facing murder charges for allegedly stabbing a store clerk to death — and he apparently was turned in to authorities by his own mother.
Charles Michael Haywood, 22, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Margaret Bracey, 42, who was stabbed to death on at around 6:40 p.m. on Aug. 24, according to police.
Surveillance video shows a man — believed to be Haywood — asking questions of Bracey, a clerk at the Exotic Hemp store in Surf City, located on the North Carolina coastline. According to a report by Raleigh NBC affiliate WRAL, the surveillance video then shows the man taking out a knife and ordering Bracey to open the cash register.
The video reportedly shows the man taking cash from the register before stabbing Bracey multiple times.
Haywood is believed to have cut his hand during the attack, and Surf City Police investigators had traced drops of blood along the highway and a road located about 700 feet from the home where Haywood was staying with his mother, WRAL reported.
According to Wilmington NBC affiliate WECT, police said that Haywood turned himself in to police the following morning, shortly before 10:30 a.m. on Aug. 25.
Apparently he didn’t do that on his own.
According to a report by People, Haywood’s mother brought her son to the Surf City Police Department after seeing the surveillance images of him on local news the day after the stabbing.
WRAL reported that Haywood’s mother had noticed a cut on his hand the previous evening, and she had taken him to a local hospital. She reportedly told police that Haywood had come home with his shirt wrapped around his hand and immediately went to take a shower, according to WRAL.
Local news station WWAY reports that Haywood is next scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 14.
WWAY has also reported that District Attorney Ben David may seek the death penalty in the case.
[Images via Surf City Police Department and Pender County Sheriff’s Office.]
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