North Carolina man broke into ex's home, fatally stabbed his 5-year-old son before going to Taco Bell: police

A North Carolina man allegedly kicked down his ex-girlfriend's apartment door and fatally stabbed his 5-year-old son before leaving and heading to Taco Bell.

Jehaaz-Akil Khaliq Echoles, 31, was charged with first-degree murder, the Pineville Police Department said on Thursday.

Officers responded shortly after midnight on Thursday to the Sabal Point Apartments in Pineville for a report of an assault with a deadly weapon. When they arrived at the home, they found the victim with multiple stab wounds.

The officers immediately began rendering emergency medical care to the child before rushing him to the hospital in a patrol car.

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The boy was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

Echoles' ex-girlfriend, who is also the child's mother, said the man broke into the apartment, entered their son's room and closed the door, according to an arrest affidavit, WGHP reported.

She said she heard a commotion and went to the bedroom and opened the door, at which point Echoles fled, according to the affidavit. She found her son bleeding and unresponsive, covered in stab wounds to his head, neck and arms, and she immediately called 911.

The woman and another child in the home were unharmed.

Echoles was later arrested at a nearby Taco Bell, according to police.

Police said this was a domestic incident and not a random act of violence. The motive for the attack is unclear at this time.

Echoles has previous criminal history for assault.

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This includes a conviction in North Carolina for assault on a woman in connection with an October 2020 incident. He also has multiple other assault-related cases going through the court system.

He has been accused of two assaults on women this year. In one case, he beat a woman with a belt. In the other, he threw keys at a woman after he borrowed her car and refused to return it.

Echoles is being held in the Mecklenburg County Jail without bond. His next court date is scheduled for July 30.