LUMBERTON — District Attorney Johnson Britt will not try the man accused of the kidnap, rape and murder of 13-year-old Hania Aguilar, but he has some advice for the man who will replace him.
“… If I were the D.A. I would seek the death penalty in this case,” Britt said during a press conference shortly after the accused, 34-year-old Michael Ray McLellan, made separate appearances in District and Superior courts on Monday.
Britt, first elected in 1994, did not seek re-election and will be replaced by Matthew Scott, now an assistant district attorney, after the first of the year.
McLellan, who already was in custody on unrelated charges, was arrested on Friday and charged with 10 felonies related to Aguilar, who was abducted on Nov. 5 outside her family’s home at Rosewood Mobile Home Park and whose body was found Nov. 27. They are: first-degree murder; first-degree forcible rape; statutory rape of a person under 15 years of age; first-degree sexual offense; statutory sex offense with a person 15 years or younger; first-degree kidnapping; felony restraint; abduction of a child; concealment of a death; and felony larceny of a motor vehicle.
Britt explained why the FBI and Lumberton police were cautious in putting McLellan’s name before the public even as social media was abuzz about him being identified as the killer.
“We build a case based on proof beyond reasonable doubt,” Britt said. “He became a suspect after the car was found. … We had hoped to find her alive. As time went on it became very apparent that she was dead, so it became necessary to find her.”
He said DNA evidence led to the charges.
“We got results on Friday,” he said. “We did not want to put Mr. McLellan’s name in the public to avoid the prejudicial effect that it might have, and the subsequent prosecution. Chief (Mike) McNeill and the FBI were told by me that they were not going to release McLellan’s name until we had sufficient evidence that we believe that we can convict him. That came about on Friday.”
Britt also extended his sympathy to Aguilar’s family, and congratulated law enforcement for the job done leading to an arrest.
McLellan, dressed in an orange jumpsuit and wearing a bulletproof vest, arrived at the Robeson County Courthouse at about 11:15 a.m. under heavy security provided by the Sheriff’s Office, Lumberton police, FBI agents and Erich Hackney, an investigator with the District Attorney’s Office.
He first was taken before District Court Judge Brooke Clark, who read the charges to McLellan, who said he understood. An interpreter repeated everything to Hania’s mother, Celsa Maribel Hernandez Velasquez, and the child’s stepfather. Hania’s mother listened intently to the reading of each charge, which described what allegedly was done to her child.
McLellan, who was assigned a public defender, was told a probable cause hearing on the charges concerning Aguilar would take place Dec. 21.
McLellan was then taken before Superior Court Judge Frank Floyd for a first appearance on charges relating to a first-degree rape, first-degree burglary and robbery with a dangerous weapon that occurred on Oct. 20, 2016, in Lumberton. Those charges were brought by a grand jury on Wednesday. Floyd left a $5 million bond in that case intact.
McLellan’s court date in the case was set for Jan. 7.
After court, McLellan was taken back to Central Prison in Raleigh.
In 2007, McLellan was convicted on charges of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury and first-degree burglary. He was sentenced to between 10 years and 12 years and nine months in prison. He was released on parole in February 2016.
McLellan was convicted in February 2017 on charges of felony breaking and entering, and larceny of a motor vehicle, according to state records. He was sentenced to between nine months and 20 months, and was released on parole in June.
He was in the jail recently on charges of second-degree kidnapping and armed robbery in connection to an incident in October in Fairmont.
According to Fairmont Police Chief Jon Edwards, McLellan, wearing a mask, approached a woman as she pulled into her home on Pittman Street and pointed a gun at her and demanded money. The woman recognized his voice and called him by name, and, according to Edwards “he removed the mask and talked to her in a way to attempt to play it off with her.” Edwards said McLellan did take money from the woman.
