Home Local News Arrest made in Dobbins Heights homicide

Arrest made in Dobbins Heights homicide

DOBBINS HEIGHTS — Investigators have made an arrest in the murder of a teen found dead behind the community center two weeks ago.

The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office has charged 23-year-old Edward McNair Kavien Sloan of Hamlet with an open count of murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon, according to a press release issued Tuesday.

Sloan is accused of robbing and killing 17-year-old Malachi Jaheim Hailey, also of Hamlet.

Hailey’s body was found behind the Dobbins Heights Community Center around 3 p.m. Aug. 6 while kids were swimming in the nearby pool.

The park and community center were shut down for the rest of the day.

Sloan is being held without bond on the murder charge and is scheduled to appear in court Sept. 5.

He was already in the Richmond County Jail when deputies served the warrants.

Jail records show he was initially booked on Aug. 14 on one count each of possession of a firearm by a felon, possession of a stolen firearm, altering or removing a gun’s serial number, and a felony probation violation. He has a $250,000 secured bond on the weapon charges and a $10,000 secured bond on the probation violation.

Investigators say the case is still active and anyone with information is encouraged to call the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office at 910-895-3232 or Richmond County Crime Stoppers at 910-997-5454.

Online court records show Sloan already has several pending weapons charges and two counts of resisting a public officer.

Sloan was charged last October with shooting another man in the parking lot outside the soup kitchen on Hamlet Avenue, but records with the N.C. Department of Public Safety Division of Adult Correction show he was only convicted (in March) of possession of a firearm by a felon.

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Sloan, who has the nicknames “Loose Screw” and “Chuggy Mack,” was convicted on a felony charge of larceny after breaking and entering in 2016 and initially received a suspended sentence.

That probation was revoked the following year when he was convicted of larceny over $1,000.

He spent eight months behind bars, but was sent back a month after getting out. He was incarcerated for another nine months and was released Aug. 19, 2018 records show.

All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

 



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Managing Editor William R. Toler is an award-winning writer and photographer with experience in print, television and online media.