ROBESON COUNTY, N.C. (WBTW) — A Lumberton man who admitted last week to killing, kidnapping and raping a 13-year-old girl in 2018 had a history of targeting Hispanic victims and hid his face during the attack to conceal his identity.
Those are among new details emerging in the case against 40-year-old Michael McLellan who was sentenced to life in prison on Friday for the murder of Hania Aguilar. A North Carolina prison official told News13 Monday that he’s being housed in the state’s most secure facility on the heels of two escape attempts from the Robeson County Detention Center on the day of his court appearance.
McLellan admitted to killing the teen after taking her from her driveway in the Rosewood Mobile Home Park on Nov. 5, 2018.
Keith Acree, a spokesman for the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction, told News13 Monday that McLellan was transferred to Granville Correctional Institution in Butner, the state’s most secure facility.
Robeson County Sheriff Burnis Wilkins said McLellan twice attempted to escape from custody on Friday — first on the way to court with a key hidden in his mouth that was fashioned from detention center art supplies and then again on his way back to jail.
Wilkin said McLellan was completely out of his handcuffs when he reached under a piece of plexiglass, released a lever on a deputy’s gun holster and grabbed the weapon before being stopped.
“State maximum facilities are high-security institutions designed primarily to house violent offenders with longer sentences, and a history of violence and creating problems for the staff,” a state Department of Public Safety description says.
Normally behind heavy-duty perimeters with high, thick walls and reinforced fences, the sites are blanketed by surveillance cameras. Inmates aren’t allowed to do off-site work or participate in community programs.
“Housing consists of single and double cells with very limited movement. The cells are self-contained built for 23 hours per day detainment,” NCDPS says. “They have no opportunity to socialize with other inmates. They are considered to be the most dangerous of all the incarcerated population.”
