Unsealed court documents shed new light on case of slain Lumberton teen

LUMBERTON, N.C. — Court documents were unsealed Thursday that revealed new information about the moments before Hania Aguilar was taken from her front yard in Lumberton last year.

[NC investigator fired amid claims of overlooked DNA in Hania Aguilar case]

In the video at the top of this webpage, veteran reporter Mark Becker traveled to Lumberton -- a community devastated by the heartbreaking case -- and takes us through the quest to find justice for Hania.

Hundreds of pages of court documents unsealed Thursday reveal new information about what led to the arrest of Michael Ray McLellan in the kidnapping and murder of Hania Aguilar.

The release of the documents came one day after Hania's autopsy report was made public. It showed that, though the medical examiner was unable to specifically determine how Hania died, her "means of death was most likely a form of asphyxia."

[READ MORE: Kidnapped Lumberton teen likely died of suffocation or strangulation, autopsy says]

Channel 9's partners at WTVD report that the new information starts with the day Hania was taken.

According to the probable cause affidavit, there were several witnesses who reported a black man wearing a yellow bandana trying to break into their home.

Twelve minutes later, police received the 911 call about Hania's abduction.

During the search for Hania, police released several surveillance videos, pleading with the public for tips. One of them showed a man walking in the area around the time of the kidnapping.

According to the newly-released documents, one woman called investigators and said McLellan might be the man. According to her statement, she saw him running away as helicopters searched the neighborhood from above.

The documents also reveal that witnesses told police McLellan was planning to target specific areas and people -- one of them being Rosewood Mobile Home Park, where Hania was kidnapped.

[PAST COVERAGE: Man accused of raping, killing Lumberton teen could face death penalty]

The witnesses said he was going to target that neighborhood because "Hispanics live there and...they have money and drugs."

A witness also told investigators that McLellan wore a yellow bandana so that people wouldn't know he was black and would think he was a member of the gang Latin Kings.

The documents state that on Nov. 8, McLellan and another man were approached by four Lumberton police officer at Deerfield Mobile Home Park, near Rosewood. The affidavit says that, when McLellan saw them, he ran away.

In addition to the information about Hania's case, the documents reveal new details about a 2016 rape case, for which McLellan is also the suspect.

WTVD previously reported that the Robeson County Sheriff's Office had DNA evidence linking McLellan to that rape but the sheriff's office never followed up.

[PAST COVERAGE: NC investigator fired amid claims of overlooked DNA in Hania Aguilar case]

"In all likelihood, had this gone forward and we established a case against him at that time, Hania would not have died," Robeson County District Attorney Johnson Britt previously said. "And for that, I can't tell you how much that hurts. How sorry I am."

After the 2016 rape, the rape kit was sent off for testing. In 2017, COTIS -- a federal DNA matching system -- named McLellan as a possible match and immediately notified the sheriff's office.

"What should've happened is that when they received the COTIS hit, that would've given them probable cause to get a search warrant to obtain a known DNA sample from McLellan," Britt said.

But that never happened.

Cox Media Group