Convicted murderer Michael McLellan arrived at Central Prison in Raleigh Friday afternoon after his attempted escape following a guilty plea for the kidnapping and murder of a 13-year-old girl.
McLellan attempted to escape twice Friday, according to Robeson County Sheriff Burnis Wilkins. The first instance was on the way from Central Prison to the Robeson County Courthouse on Friday morning, but the homemade key he had got stuck in the handcuffs.
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At a hearing around 11 a.m. on Friday, McLellan pleaded guilty to the 2018 kidnapping, rape and murder of 13-year-old Hania Aguilar in Lumberton.
Friday afternoon while deputies transported him back from the courthouse, he tried with a second homemade key and was able to remove what authorities call a black box, which connects to other chains, while being transported along Interstate 40 near milemarker 317, Wilkins told WRAL News.
"He was able to get all that off of him in the back seat," Wilkins said of McLellan.
Deputies noticed movement in the back of the vehicle and stopped to check, according to Wilkins.
"The next thing they know, he's reaching through what is a air vent that goes underneath the plexiglass," Wilkins said.
There was struggle and McLellan went for a deputy’s gun, according to Wilkins.
"He was able to hit the latch that undoes the gun in the holster and actually have control of the weapon," Wilkins said of McLellan.
Wilkins said the deputy driving slammed on the brakes.
"[The deputy] has one hand on the gun," Wilkins said. "McLellan has his hand on the actual grip of the gun and there's a struggle for it."
Wilkins said the detention officer in the car took her pepper spray and sprayed McLellan in his face.
"He immediately lets off of it [the gun], and said, 'I surrender,'" Wilkins said of McLellan.
Related: Who is Michael McLellan? Lumberton man convicted of murdering 13-year-old tried to escape twice
Wilkins said the backup car ran into the patrol car ahead of it during the attempted escape.
The sheriff also said McLellan was repeatedly shouting as he attempted to get the deputy's gun.
"On this second attempt that he tried, the whole time he was fighting for the gun with the deputy, he was yelling out something similar to, 'It's going to be a good day' or something like that," Wilkins said. "'It's going to be a good day, a good day!' He was yelling that out."
McLellan pleads guilty to murder of 13-year-old Hania Aguilar
McLellan on Friday pleaded guilty to the first-degree murder of Hania Aguilar, according to Lumberton police. The 13-year-old's body was found in the woods in 2018, weeks after she was kidnapped from her Lumberton home.
McLellan appeared in court around 11 a.m. in Robeson County, where he admitted to kidnapping Hania, killing her and disposing of her body. His guilty plea also includes charges involving the attacks of two unrelated victims in October 2016 and July 2018.
McLellan was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Hania, 13, had just started her aunt's SUV on the morning of Nov. 5, 2018, family members said, when a man wearing a bandana jumped in and drove away with both the vehicle and the child.
The SUV was found within a few days, but Hania's body wasn't found until Nov. 27. According to the autopsy report, Hania's body was partially decomposed and had a "broken plastic table on top and black tire on top of table." The teen was naked when she was found.
Authorities said her body had minimal evidence of trauma, but signs consistent with sexual abuse.
McLellan was charged with multiple felonies, including first-degree murder, first-degree rape, first-degree sex offense, first-degree kidnapping, abduction of a child and concealment of a death, on Dec. 8, the day of Hania's funeral.
When Hania went missing, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) assisted in a multi-state search for the 13-year-old girl and the man who took her.
"We hope Hania's family and McLellan's other victims are in some way comforted knowing he will spend the rest of his life in prison for his vicious crimes," said FBI special agent Robert M. DeWitt.
WRAL News on Friday spoke to Hania's loved ones, who attended the sentencing.
“I’m happy. He deserved to spend the rest of his life in jail," said Emy Moscoso, a family friend. “We pray. We stick together. How could he have done that to an angel?"
"Everyone in the Lumberton Police Department is humbled and grateful to bring justice for Hania, her family, and this community," said Lumberton Police Chief Michael McNeill. "Before you go to bed tonight, please pray for Hania's family to begin to heal their broken hearts."