MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — A man wanted for a 2017 murder and armed robbery in Melbourne, Florida was arrested Thursday after a police pursuit through Berkeley County.
According to a press release, the U.S. Marshals Mountain State Fugitive Task Force recently learned that 38 year-old Dontae Jermaine Childs was staying at the APM Inn & Suites in Martinsburg. Police spotted Childs leaving the hotel Thursday morning in a red Chevy Malibu.
When officers tried to stop Childs, police allege he fled onto the northbound lanes of I-81. After a chase lasting nearly seven miles on I-81, Childs lost control of his vehicle and crashed on the exit 23 ramp in Falling Waters. After crashing, Childs briefly fled on foot but was taken into custody after officers chased him.
Child has been charged as a fugitive from justice, felony fleeing, possession with intent to distribute marijuana, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and felon in possession of a firearm.
Florida Today reports Childs was wanted for the November 2017 death of 20 year-old Devon Sannito-Griesi. Childs allegedly shot Sannito-Griesi in a Melbourne apartment complex parking lot.
The pair had an “unspecified business relationship with each other before the shooting”, a police spokesperson told the media outlet.
The Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office, West Virginia State Police and Martinsburg Police assisted with Thursday’s arrest.