An alleged murderer and two other inmates have been charged with planning to murder a law enforcement officer and effect a jail break.
Natrelle McKinnies, 28; Javon Bowen, 28; and the 17 year old were arrested Wednesday, according to the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation. McKinnies was in custody in Granville Correction Center on three unrelated murder charges.
Warrants show that McKinnies approached Bowen and the juvenile, identified in court documents by the initials JT, about a scheme to kill a law enforcement officer and escape jail. The warrant does not name a specific officer, and notes that McKinnies planned to escape from the “Bladen County Jail, Elizabethtown… and/or Columbus County Jail, Whiteville, N.C.”
The SBI began investigating the case in November, according to spokesperson Anjanette Grube. McKinnies was being held at the Columbus County Jail at the time. He was later transferred to Granville Correctional Institution, where he is being held pending trial in three different murders.
Bowen and the juvenile were arrested by the SBI Criminal Apprehension Team Tuesday. They are both charged with conspiracy. Bowen was held under $100,000 secured bond. The teen’s bond or release information were not made available.
McKinnies is the defendant in two high profile murders in Whiteville, one of which occurred while he was out on bond.
On July 30, 2019, McKinnies allegedly shot and killed Diondi Sadler, 25, at Sandy Ridge Apartments in Whiteville. The killing was one of a string of violent crimes that led to a major crackdown at the complex.
Investigators said Sadler was injured in a shooting in the Ivy’s Café parking lot on July 13, before the killing, but refused to cooperate with police. McKinnies allegedly shot Sadler in retaliation after a previous conflict between the two. His father Nathan McKinnies was originally held for murder, but later charged with accessory after the fact for helping his son escape and hide from police.
McKinnies turned himself in and was charged with first degree murder on Aug. 6, 2019. He was held and indicted by a grand jury on Aug. 14.
McKinnies was initially held without bond, but was later released on a $250,000 secured bond after a motion by the defense, according to court documents. No stipulations were put on the release. A bondsman was paid to post the full amount.
The defense in the case filed a motion for bond on Sept. 24, 2020. The motion was added to the calendar for Oct. 8, 2020, and granted by Judge Andrew Heath, according to court documents. He made bond via a bailbondsman on April 14, 2021.
The bond was revoked March 23, and he was taken into custody by WPD, the sheriff’s Office, a SWAT team and the SBI. The bond was revoked after he allegedly shot and killed William Edwards Jr. on May 3, 2023.
In that killing, McKinnies was charged with firing multiple rounds inside the Whiteville Discount Tires business on Columbus Street. Edwards was shot multiple times, investigators said. Witnesses said McKinnies stopped to clear a malfunction on his handgun before continuing to shoot Williams.
McKinnies was scheduled to go on trial for the Sadler killing on May 23, two weeks after Williams was shot to death.
During the 2023 arrest, investigators obtained a search warrant for a property on Stanly Street where McKinnies was hiding out. Police found a firearm and large amounts of marijuana and cocaine. McKinnies and two other men not connected to the homicide investigation were arrested. McKinnies’ girlfriend, Destiny Nicole Kemp, was also charged with helping McKinnies hide from law enforcement.
