ROBESON COUNTY, N.C. — A detective who was fired after the Hania Aguilar murder investigation is taking his frustrations to social media.
Former Robeson County Deputy Darryl McPhatter was fired after an internal investigation found overlooked evidence might have put Michael McLellan behind bars for a 2016 rape.
McLellan is now charged with Aguilar's murder and could face the death penalty if convicted.
In December, Sheriff Burnis Wilkins launched an internal investigation into why DNA evidence naming McClellan as a rape suspect in the 2016 case wasn't processed.
"In all likelihood, had (the 2016 rape investigation) gone forward and we established a case against (McLellan) at that time, Hania would not have died," District Attorney Johnson Britt told Channel 9's sister station WTVD after McLellan's first court appearance.
McPhatter posted on Facebook that the DNA hit from the 2016 case was found in someone else's office and never reached him.
"The administration knows the DNA hit from the 2016 case was located in someone else's office along with other DNA hits from other cases and it was never passed over to me," McPhatter posted.
He said the worst part is that Aguilar's mother and family think he could have prevented her murder.
"I wish I would've received that DNA hit in 2017, that maybe Hania Aguilar would still be with her family," McPhatter wrote.
Police said McLellan forced Aguilar into her family's SUV last November and drove off. Her body was found nearly a month later.
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