Fugitive Wanted For Allegedly Killing 8-Month-Old Has Been Captured In North Carolina
Authorities confirm Claude Edsel Brooks, who appeared on Season 3 of ‘In Pursuit with John Walsh’, was arrested in Pitt County, North Carolina. Authorities say Brooks was hiding in the attic of a home in the area.
Pitt County Detention Center
A fugitive who has been on the run for more than two years for allegedly killing a baby is now behind bars in North Carolina.
According to authorities, Claude Edsel Brooks fled on Dec. 30, 2019 after an 8-month-old baby was found deceased. According to Crime Stoppers of Tampa Bay, family members located the infant and
less than two weeks later, on Jan. 11, 2021, Brooks was charged with first-degree murder of a child in Florida, but he was gone.
On March 21, 2023, the Pitt County Sheriff’s Office confirmed in a statement there was a barricade situation at a home on Buckingham Drive in Greenville. The person, who was identified as Brooks, refused to surrender, the department added.
Pitt County Sheriff Paula Dance said deputies, with assistance from the U.S. Marshals and the FBI, “deployed gas mutations” the Reflector reported. “Following a tactical operation, Brooks was taken into custody inside the home’s attic without injury or shots being fired,” the sheriff’s office statement added.
Pitt County Sheriff's Office
According to reports, Sheriff Dance said she believes Brooks was in the North Carolina area for some time, and was even previously arrested. On Feb. 22, 2023, according to the statement by the sheriff’s office, deputies were called to a scene where a suspect was allegedly shooting a gun toward a home. The statement added, the suspect also allegedly fired the weapon “in the direction of a District Court Judge’s home.”
When deputies caught up to and stopped the vehicle, the person inside gave an identification from Arizona, the sheriff’s office said. Although the suspect at the time was booked under the name Rykan Ashley Green, authorities now believe that person was Claude Edsel Brooks.
At the time, Brooks, who was identifying as Green, was charged with a number of crimes including, possession of a firearm by a felon carrying a concealed weapon, resist, delay, or obstruct a police officer.
For the most recent incident, Brooks is currently behind bars with the Pitt County Sheriff’s Office. He is facing the previous charges from February 2023 and those now also include identity theft.
Brooks is awaiting extradition to Florida for the murder, authorities conclude.
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