(Lumberton, N.C.) — A North Carolina prosecutor plans to seek the death penalty for the man accused in the kidnapping, rape and murder of a teenager last year.

Robeson County District Attorney Matt Scott indicated at a hearing Thursday that he plans to seek the maximum penalty for Michael McLellan, who is charged with first-degree murder and other offenses.

Scott said the crimes fit the criteria for the state to seek the death penalty, noting that the aggravating circumstances included McLellan’s criminal record which consists of violent crimes and the “extremely atrocious, heinous and cruel” murder of 13-year-old Hania Aguilar.

The teenager’s body was found in a body of water about 10 miles south of the mobile home park where she was kidnapped last November.

 

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