LAURINBURG, N.C. – A North Carolina man accused in a Kanawha County killing is fighting extradition back to West Virginia after being arrested and charged with first-degree murder earlier this week.
Harold Ishameul Patterson, 27, of Laurinburg, North Carolina, initially waived his extradition rights on Wednesday but, according to Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Jeremy Burns, later changed his mind. He was arrested and charged Tuesday for killing a man whose body was found next to a burning car on Cabin Creek Road on Sunday.
The body was taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, and while it was determined that the death was a homicide, the victim’s name has not been released.
Investigation by the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from Scotland County (NC) Sheriff’s Office, Laurinburg (NC) Police Department, West Virginia Fire Marshal’s Office, West Virginia Fusion Center, and Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, determined that Patterson was a suspect in the murder, and he was taken into custody by Scotland County (NC) sheriff’s deputies on Tuesday.
Kanawha County Sheriff Joey Crawford stated in a news conference on Wednesday that anonymous tips aided in the investigation and accelerated the timeline to allow investigators to develop Patterson as a suspect within 48 hours. Deputies from Kanawha County traveled to North Carolina this week, and warrants connected to the case were served there, as well as in Kanawha and Putnam counties.
The extradition timeline typically takes around 20 days, according to Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office officials.