A Newton County man has been charged with murder, rape and multiple other felonies in connection with a brutal double stabbing that rattled a tiny town in northeast North Carolina.
Aulander is a township with less than a thousand residents in Bertie County, about 20 miles south of the Virginia border and about 115 miles northeast of Raleigh. In February, sheriff’s deputies responded to a stabbing call and found an 80-year-old woman dead and her 62-year-old caretaker in critical condition, but no suspect.
The victims were identified as Lan Thi Rawls, who died, and Rochelle Harrell, who was flown to a hospital in Greenville, North Carolina, due to the severity of her injuries, the sheriff’s office said. According to Fox 8 in Greensboro, Rawls was a beloved member of the Aulander community known as the “Tootsie Roll Lady” due to her habit of giving children candy while out walking. Harell remains in the hospital in critical condition, the sheriff’s office said.
More than six weeks after the Feb. 20 stabbing, officials identified Robert Tyjuan Reid of Covington as the suspect. Reid was located in Georgia and arrested on charges of first-degree forcible rape, first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and two counts of first-degree kidnapping, among other counts, the sheriff’s office said.
Officials did not say why Reid was in Aulander when the incident took place or what motive led him to allegedly stab the two women. Officials did not share Reid’s age, but he appears to be significantly younger than both Rawls and Harrell.
In late February, shaken residents of Aulander held a vigil in Rawls’ honor, Fox 8 reported.
“She would always come by, walk by, and give the children stuff in town. Tootsie Rolls … that’s why we called her the ‘Tootsie Roll Lady’,” James Futrell told the news station. “And during Christmastime, the holidays, she would always walk by and pass out candy.”
North Carolina officials thanked law enforcement agencies in South Carolina and Georgia for their help in locating Reid, including the Covington Police Department. Local officials have not said how Reid was located or if he was already in jail in Newton when he was charged with the crimes in Aulander.
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