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Black parolee captured after shooting of White corrections officer stirs interstate manhunt

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Jacksonville, Florida – A Black parolee linked to an unsolved homicide has been accused of shooting an off-duty corrections officer to death.

Silent security footage from the early hours of October 12 shows an apparent verbal and physical altercation between a Black man and a Black woman at a truck stop.

53-year-old Brad McNew—an off-duty White corrections officer—attempted to intervene.

However, he was rebuffed by the man, identified as 29-year-old Demaurea ‘Black Ice’ Grant, who then drew a pistol.

According to police, the woman left the truck stop in a vehicle shortly afterward, with Grant firing the fatal shots at McNew from the passenger seat.

Corrections Officer Brad McNew (left) in uniform (date unknown) and the mugshot of Demaurea ‘Black Ice’ Grant from his arrest earlier this month. Collage: Officer Down Memorial Page, Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office

According to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office in Florida, Demaurea Grant was arrested in Gastonia, North Carolina by a U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force. His driver, who also appears to be a victim, was taken into custody on an unrelated warrant.

Grant is awaiting extradition to Florida, where he faces charges of murder, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, aggravated assault with a firearm, and discharging a firearm in public. He is being held without bond.

The Justice Report has identified the woman allegedly assaulted by Grant as Victoria Mackayla Huggins, a Black woman. Her identification was confirmed through her arrest details, including the time, the agency involved, and a booking number that directly follows Grant’s.

Moreover, the woman featured in the video closely resembles Huggins, particularly her hairstyle, further supporting the identification.

A screenshot from the security footage taken right before the killing of Brad McNew (left) and the mugshot of Victoria Mackayla Huggins (right). Media and police sources have only identified Demaurea Grant as the male in the dark shirt. Collage: Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, Gastonia Police Department

This indicates that both Huggins and Grant’s presence in Florida may have been unlawful, given that Grant was on parole.

Officer Brad McNew served Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office for 24 years. He leaves behind a wife and one son.

The family was recently rocked by tragedy in 2020 when McNew’s oldest daughter, Elizabeth Rose lost her battle with COVID at the age of twelve.

Heather Webb, the organizer of a GoFundMe for the now family of two wrote of the financial burden created by the loss of McNew.

“Brad was the family’s sole provider at the time of his death,” Webb said “Elda and Liam will need our collective help in the coming weeks, as they work to put the pieces of their life back together.”

The GoFundMe remains just under $7,000 short of its $35,000 goal.

Love’s Truck Stop in Jacksonville, FL where Brad McNew died. Screenshot: Google Maps

Emergency services of all stripes also showed their respect for McNew. Firetrucks, police escort, and pallbearers were provided to transport McNew’s body to a local funeral home.

In an October 13 post on Facebook, Sheriff Waters stressed to the public that the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office remains ever watchful.

“This arrest should serve as a reminder that if you choose to commit violence in our community,” Waters stated, “you will always be held accountable.”

Although Waters’ claims about apprehending fugitives may hold true, the circumstances leading to McNew’s death remain unexamined—specifically, Grant’s long history of apparent disregard for the American legal system.

Demaurea “Black Ice” Grant’s criminal history began with an alleged kidnapping in the summer of 2012, just months before he turned 18.

It wasn’t until May 2015 that police apprehended Grant, charging him with robbery, motor vehicle theft, and assault by strangulation. During the court proceedings, an additional charge from 2015 for communicating threats was also added.

For these offenses—four felonies and one misdemeanor—Grant received a sentence of 58 to 82 months but served only 36 months in prison.

Less than two months after his release, Grant was back on law enforcement’s radar.

In July 2018, 38-year-old Jarellia Montgomery—who is Black—was shot dead on his motorcycle after being chased over a mile by a car full of Black men.

The group of Blacks, which allegedly included Demaurea Grant, had begun arguing with Montgomery at a gas station.

2018 security cam footage from the gas station where Jarellia Montgomery was last seen alive appears to show Demaurea Grant. Source: WSOC-TV

The conflict stemmed from a bandana that resembled a gang symbol. L.D. Parker, Montgomery’s father saw the surveillance video of the incident and believed it was an issue of mistaken identity.

“He told them he’s not in no gang, and he laughed at them,” Parker told WSOC-TV, “He said, ‘Man, I’m 38 years old. I got kids. I got grandkids. I don’t play games like that. He got on his motorcycle, pulled off and left. Then, the guys jumped in the car and chased him.”

Jarellia Montgomery’s homicide remains unsolved.

In August 2018, Grant’s post-release was revoked with no specific reason publicly available. He was scheduled to serve 12 more months behind bars.

Sometime thereafter, Grant began to either spend time or reside in the Jacksonville, Florida area, racking up multiple charges. Among them were violent offenses, including assault with a deadly weapon against a government employee and assault on a law enforcement officer.

Grant is also alleged to have assaulted a Florida McDonald’s worker and threatened them with a fake gun in a dispute over condiment pricing.

Grant was recently released to parole in March of this year.

At that time, Grant had been convicted of at least 7 felonies and one misdemeanor.

Seven months later, Grant is now the sole suspect in the killing of Officer Brad McNew.

Despite comprising only 16.9% of Floridians and just 22.1% of North Carolinians, Blacks have been the suspect in 45% and 59% of all homicides in both states for the last 5 years.

Due to the FBI’s murky nature of racial and ethnic classifications for ‘White’ and non-White Hispanics, discovering the victimization rate of Whites by homicide is very difficult.

Additionally, the extent of interracial murder in the United States remains near impossible to determine.

The slaying of Officer McNew appears to be another example of ‘Good Samaritan’ White person finding their kindness towards others rewarded with extreme violence.

In early September, a 19-year-old was shot and killed while attempting to break up a fight at a bonfire party in the Virginia woods. For the crime, authorities have arrested and charged an 18-year-old Black man.

In the summer of 2022, a White homeless shelter worker was left permanently disfigured after a Black vagrant hacked him with swords. No hate crime charges were filed against the attacked despite him extensively using anti-White slurs before and during the attack.

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