A woman accused of killing two Virginia Department of Transportation contractors nearly two months ago was arrested in eastern North Carolina on Thursday, authorities said.
According to Halifax County online booking records, Dennikia Rachelle Boyce, 37, was arrested by U.S. Marshals on a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. She remained in the Halifax County Jail on an extradition/fugitive other state charge, booking records show.
Boyce faces two charges of second-degree murder.
She was arrested in Scotland Neck, North Carolina. She was wanted in connection with the fatal shooting of the contractors in Chesterfield County, Virginia, on July 24, WVEC reported. She is accused of killing Rai’Shon Eugene Delarge, 30, of Woodbridge, Virginia; and Phillip Avery Wilson, 34. They were working at a VDOT equipment yard when they were killed, according to WRAL.
Delarge was pronounced dead at the scene, ABC News reported. Wilson died later at a local hospital, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
According to a news release from the Halifax Sheriff’s Office, agents with the Halifax Regional Drug and Gang Task Force were contacted by the Scotland Neck Police Department on Wednesday and said that Boyce was reportedly in the town.
The shooting was described as a case of domestic violence, the U.S. Marshals Service said.
At approximately 10 a.m. ET on Thursday, Boyce was located at a residence in Scotland Neck and taken into custody without incident, the sheriff’s office said. A fugitive order was obtained by the Halifax County Magistrate’s Office, and Boyce was booked into jail without bond.
“Even though she’s been caught and she’s in custody, my son is still not here, and Rai’shon is not here,” Darlene Wilson, Philip Wilson’s mother, told WRIC. “For her to go to their job and to take their lives is something that will stay with me forever.
“I’m angry. I’m hurt because I miss my son. I cry every day.”
Keymia Todd, the mother of Delarge’s daughter, told the television station that he was killed on the weekend of his 5-year-old daughter’s birthday.
“I just didn’t know what to say, (or) how to go about it. How do you tell a child we’re gone from your dad’s coming up with the birthday cake in a few hours for you to now have to tell your dad’s actually been killed,” Todd told WRIC.
Virginia State Police are working with authorities to extradite Boyce to Virginia, WVEC reported.
“The citizens of Chesterfield County can rest assured that the U. S. Marshals Service is dedicated to assisting our state and local partners with removing violent criminals from the community,” Don Snider, the commander of the U.S. Marshals Service Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force, said in a statement. “Violent fugitives can cross state lines, but they cannot escape the reach of the U. S. Marshals Service.”
Boyce is scheduled to appear in a Halifax County court on Sept. 22, online booking records show.