Sheriff James A. McVicker said the second suspect in the abduction of 4 month old Lonnisha Renee Askew on Monday has been arrested.
McVicker said Lonnie Lee Williams, 29, of 1309 Clyde Norris Road, Tabor City, NC
was arrested Thursday afternoon by Investigators with the Bladen County Sheriff’s Office. “My investigators located Mr. Williams in Columbus County and arrested him without incident,” said Sheriff McVicker.
“Our investigation lead us to believe Mr. Williams was with Juanita Askew when she took her child from Little Hands Daycare on Monday afternoon. We believe Askew dropped Williams off somewhere in Columbus County after she took her child. Ms. Askew then fled to Hoke county where she stayed with a friend Monday night before he drove her to meet a family member in Lumberton to give them her daughter. Askew was arrested when she arrived at the exchange point and after she released the child to a family member. There were several undercover officers around the location to insure the safety of the child.
Sheriff McVicker said Mr. Williams is currently in the Bladen County Detention Center under a $300,000.00 secured bond. Williams had an outstanding warrant for Felony Probation Violation and was also charged with Abduction of a Child for his involvement in the taking of Lonnisha Askew from the Day Care center on Monday afternoon.
“I wish to thank everyone who has helped us in this case,” said Sheriff McVicker. “My office worked diligently on this case but we did not work alone. We had the help of a lot of law enforcement agencies and other government agencies. I said at the beginning of
this case that our number one priority was to find the child before any harm could come to her and by the grace of the good Lord we were able to do that. I will never forget seeing that precious child and knowing she was okay and safe. When people ask officers why they do this job this is the kind of case we point to as our reason for being law enforcement officers.”
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