Boyfriend of North Carolina mother-of-two, 38, is arrested for murder three months after he called 911 to say he'd found her unconscious in a bathtub - as video from victim's house shows mattress and pillow soaked with blood
Three months after a North Carolina woman was found unconscious in a bathtub and later died of injuries to the head, her boyfriend was arrested in Maine on Monday and charged with her murder.
John Curtis 'Jay' Tolson, 28, was taken into custody in Bangor after the Dare County Grand Jury in North Carolina returned an indictment, charging him with one count of second-degree murder in the July death of 38-year-old LeeAnn Fletcher.
Fletcher, a mother-of-two, was found unresponsive in her home in Kitty Hawk on July 22.
John Curtis 'Jay' Tolson, 28 (left), has been charged with second-degree murder in the blunt force trauma death of his girlfriend, LeeAnn Fletcher, 38 (right), in late July
Tolson said he found Fletcher unresponsive in this bathtub on July 22
Fletcher's relatives and a private investigator visited her home after her death and found large amounts of blood on her mattress (pictured)
She succumbed to her injuries three days later at Norfolk General Hospital in Virginia, and her autopsy found that her death was caused by a blow to the head that could have been either intentional or accidental.
Tolson, who had been dating Fletcher, was the one who called 911 to report that he had found her unconscious in the bathtub, reported The News & Observer.
'My friend, she’s laying in the tub, she won’t wake up,' he said on the call, which has been released by Fletcher's family. 'I think she fell last night, I’m not sure. There’s blood coming out of her nose so I can’t get her to wake up.'
Early in the investigation, police named Tolson a 'person of interest' but did not arrest him right away, sparking outrage among Fletcher's family and friends who were convinced that she died as a result of foul play perpetrated by her boyfriend.
Trisha Cahoon, Fletcher's cousin, has started a social media campaign called 'Justice for LeeAnn,' and the family have hired a private investigator to help them collect evidence.
Graphic video recorded inside Fletcher's home after her death showed a bloodied mattress, pillows and items of clothing, including a shirt that was soaked with what appeared to be blood.
Bloodstains were discovered on a pillow inside Fletcher's Kitty Hawk residence
A shirt that appeared to be saturated with blood was found inside the home during the family's walk-through
Fletcher, a mom-of-two from North Carolina, was found unresponsive in the bathtub and died three days later. Tolson was the one who called 911, saying she may have taken a fall
Fletcher's loved ones accused the Kitty Hawk Police Department of handling the case with 'no sense of urgency,' according to the paper.
Police responded to the criticism in a Facebook post, urging people to be patient and allow them time to conduct the investigation 'in an objective and thorough manner,' rather than rely on social media posts and news reports 'that may or may not be supported by the evidence...'
After learning of Tolson's arrest from law enforcement, a visibly emotional Cahoon took to Facebook Live to thank everyone who has supported her social media campaign aimed at delivering justice for her slain cousin.
'Everybody give yourself a pat on the back because if it wasn’t for us, and pushing this and pushing this and pushing this, we would not be where we’re at right now,' Cahoon said through sobs. 'We got him, y’all! We burned his a**, and now we just have to make sure he actually serves his time, so the fight is not over... We got that bastard.'
Fletcher is survived by her two children: a teenage daughter and a six-year-old son
Tolson is expected to be extradited to North Carolina to face a judge during the next session of superior court in Dare County on November 30.
Fletcher is survived by her teenager daughter and six-year-old son. Her obituary described her as 'an incredible woman of strength and love.'
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