Attempted murder suspect nabbed in Virginia

Three-day hunt in Newport News for Hillsborough man accused of trying to kill his mother results in arrest.

By: Melissa Edmond
   The 21-year-old Hillsborough man charged with attempting to murder his 41-year-old mother last week was captured Monday night in Virginia.
   Devin M. Powell fled Hillsborough in a stolen pickup truck Dec. 15, which the Virginia State Police found on Sunday, according to Somerset County Prosecutor Wayne J. Forrest.
   Dawn Powell-Reid, Mr. Powell’s mother, remains hospitalized with multiple stab wounds and lacerations to the head and face. She also suffered a fractured eye socket and a lacerated liver in the incident.
   Mr. Forrest said that after the truck was found in Virginia, detectives from Hillsborough and the prosecutor’s office learned Mr. Powell had family and possibly an ex-girlfriend in Newport News, Va., where he had attended military school.
   The detectives contacted the Newport News Police Department and advised them of the investigation and provided them with Mr. Powell’s photo.
   Three days after a manhunt was launched for Mr. Powell, Newport News police arrested him at approximately 9:30 p.m. Monday and found him in the parking lot of King James Motel on Jefferson Avenue in possession of more than 2 pounds of suspected cocaine, according to Mr. Forrest.
   Mr. Powell is being held by Newport News Sheriff’s Office in Virginia for transfer to New Jersey. According to Sheriff Deputy Stacie White, drug charges against Mr. Powell were dropped Tuesday.
   A hearing has been set for Dec. 28 in Newport News to facilitate his transfer to New Jersey for prosecution on the attempted murder charge. Virginia authorities did not set bail for Mr. Powell.
   Mr. Forrest said Hillsborough police found Ms. Powell-Reid, lying in the snow bleeding from her head and face outside of her and Mr. Powell’s Brookside Lane residence at approximately 2:45 p.m. Dec. 15.
   Witnesses told detectives they saw Mr. Powell punching and kicking his mother in the head and body. One witness claims to have seen Mr. Powell holding a knife.
   Before police arrived, Mr. Powell stole a contractor’s two-tone blue/gold GMC pickup truck that was running in the development’s parking lot and fled, according to Mr. Forrest.
   Mr. Forrest said a warrant was issued Friday for Mr. Powell, who had been free on bail on charges that he had assaulted several police officers in 2004.
   Hillsborough Police Lt. Paul Kaminsky said Mr. Powell assaulted four Hillsborough police officers on June 14, 2004. He said that Mr. Powell was at Repairs Unlimited on Route 206 waiting for his car when he attempted to take another vehicle.
   Mr. Powell and an employee at Repairs Unlimited got into an argument.
   When police arrived, Mr. Powell "stood in front of the officers in a fighting stance and as the officers attempted to place his arms behind his back, he attempted to take swings and resisted arrest," said Lt. Kaminsky.
   He said that two officers received minor injuries during the scuffle. He said that Mr. Powell was taken into custody and transported to Somerset Medical Center for medical reasons that Lt. Kaminsky said he couldn’t disclose.
   Lt. Kaminsky said that while at the hospital, Mr. Powell continued to resist arrest. He struck an officer in the face with a closed fist and injured another officer when he and Mr. Powell fell to the ground at the hospital, he said.
   After these two incidents, Lt. Kaminsky said that Mr. Powell was taken to the county jail. The county jail could not disclose Mr. Powell’s bail records from 2004.