JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Saturday, April 12, will mark 6 months since off-duty Jacksonville Sheriff’s corrections officer, Brad McNew, was shot and killed while intervening during a domestic dispute at a northside gas station.
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In January, a grand jury indicted 30-year-old Demaurea Grant with first degree murder. Police said Grant shot McNew while hanging out of the passenger window of a car after McNew intervened in a domestic dispute that was caught on surveillance video.
After the shooting, Grant fled to North Carolina, but was captured a short time later and has remained in North Carolina custody ever since.
Friday afternoon, News4JAX received an update from a spokesperson with the state attorney’s office regarding Grant’s eventual extradition back to Jacksonville to face murder charges.
The spokesperson said in an emailed statement: “Through interstate agreements on detainers, he was afforded due process there in the extradition matter — that hearing took place this week. With the matter reaching its conclusion, we expect him to be extradited back to Duval County in the near future."
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Grant was on parole at the time of McNew’s murder. North Carolina prison records show Grant is being housed at the Granville Correctional Institute. The primary charge is assault with a deadly weapon on government officers. The records also indicate his most recent disciplinary infraction took place last December.
Having spent nearly three decades with JSO, News4AX crime and safety analyst Tom Hackney has seen delays in suspects’ extraditions time and time again. He said a lot is happening behind the scenes.
“Those two jurisdictions absolutely are talking, because the state here has to know what their plans are, so they’re working toward being ready for trial,” Hackney said. “They need to know when that’s going to happen. And the talks between them are probably cordial, but the state attorney’s office here wants their person.”
Given McNew’s many years working at the Duval County jail, Hackney said one thing to consider is where Grant should be housed once he does return to Jacksonville and makes his way through the pretrial process.
“That would be a point of consideration for the state to deal with,” Hackney said. “St Johns County or Baker County or Clay County may step up and be willing to hold and house that inmate. You want clarity, you want transparency, and you don’t want to have to have anything that could be a question come along.”
Friday afternoon, Sheriff T.K. Waters released a statement saying he has confidence the process is working.
“As we mark six months since Officer McNew was killed in defense of another, I know that our partners at the State Attorney’s Office continue to do everything in their power to extradite his killer back to Florida. I believe in the rule of law and our criminal justice system, and I have faith that justice delayed will not be justice denied. Officer McNew remains a hero to me and this agency. As always, our thoughts and prayers remain with the McNew family members as they navigate their grief.”
