A suspect in the killing of an off-duty Florida deputy, who was shot while attempting to intervene in a domestic violence incident, was captured Sunday in North Carolina, authorities reported.
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The suspect, 29-year-old Demaurea Grant, was arrested without resistance around 7:30 a.m. by the U.S. Marshals Service’s Fugitive Task Force at a residence in Gastonia, North Carolina, approximately 400 miles from where he allegedly shot Deputy Brad McNew. McNew, a corrections officer for the Jacksonville County Sheriff’s Office, was killed while trying to stop a domestic battery, officials said.
“I’m grateful for the swift arrest of the individual who took the life of one of our own,” said Jacksonville County Sheriff T.K. Waters at a Sunday news conference.
Waters explained that McNew, a 24-year veteran of the department, had just finished his shift when he encountered Grant at a truck stop in Jacksonville. McNew reportedly saw Grant assaulting a woman near the gas pumps and stepped in to assist her.
“Today’s arrest ensures accountability for the man who senselessly took the life of someone trying to help another in need,” Waters said.
Grant’s arrest came about 30 hours after witnesses told investigators they saw him leaning out the passenger-side window of a black 2000 Ford Mustang, which was driven by the same woman McNew had attempted to help, and shooting at the deputy, officials said.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office had issued an alert to law enforcement across the country to be on the lookout for the Mustang, which had North Carolina license plates. A large-scale search for Grant ensued.
Grant faces multiple charges, including murder, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, aggravated assault with a firearm, and discharging a firearm in public, Waters said.
“Grant is a convicted felon with a history of violent crime,” Waters added.
The woman seen with Grant was also arrested on separate charges related to a crime in North Carolina, although Waters did not provide further details or her name.
The shooting occurred around 1:20 a.m. on Saturday at a Love’s Truck Stop in northern Jacksonville, Deputy Chief Alan Parker said in a separate press conference.
McNew, who was not in uniform at the time, stopped at the truck stop just as Grant and the woman were having a heated argument near the gas pumps.
Witness statements, corroborated by security footage, showed Grant exiting the Mustang, placing a firearm on the car’s hood, and forcibly pulling the woman out of the driver’s seat.
“He pushed her against the vehicle, and it appeared he put his hand around her neck,” Waters said.
When McNew approached and asked the woman if she was alright, Grant reportedly told him, “It’s family business, stay out of it.”
Despite McNew’s efforts to intervene, the situation escalated. Witnesses said Grant picked up the gun from the hood but did not immediately fire. He and the woman then got back into the Mustang, with the woman driving away.
“As they drove off, witnesses saw Grant hanging out of the car window, shooting multiple times, hitting McNew,” Parker said.
McNew was rushed to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
“McNew represents everything we expect from a law enforcement officer—someone who acts even when off-duty, as any decent human being would,” Waters said. “Tragically, his life was taken by someone who will now face justice.”
