Hillsborough, NC – Jataveon Dashawn Hall, 19, walked out of UNC-Chapel Hill Hospital against medical advice Friday evening shortly before 8 pm. He was there for treatment of a head wound received when an 11 year-old-boy from Mebane hit Hall in the head earlier that day with a machete. Hall had broken into the boy’s home on Yarborough Road, put the boy in a closet, and was in the process of removing electronics from the home when the boy hit him. Deputies from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) have established a close patrol in the area of the boy’s home for the protection of the boy and his family until Hall is arrested.
Sheriff Charles Blackwood said, “I am concerned about the amount of misinformation I am reading regarding this case. First of all, Jataveon Hall was never in the custody of our office. After receiving the 911 call and interviewing the victim in this case, our investigators alerted area hospitals to watch for a person seeking treatment for a head injury. Using information from the victim, we provided a description.”
At approximately 1:00 pm on Friday, a man, later identified as Jataveon Dashawn Hall, arrived at UNC-Hillsborough Hospital with a laceration to the back of his head. He walked in on his own. Deputies were notified. OCSO Sergeant R. Jones happened to be at the hospital preparing to eat lunch. He remained nearby in public areas until investigators arrived, but at this point, Hall was only a suspect and there was no legal authority to hold him in custody.
Two OCSO investigators responded to UNC-Hillsborough Hospital and Sergeant Jones returned to his patrol duties. After enough information was established through the investigation to seek warrants, Investigator J. Nazworth went to the magistrate Friday afternoon. The magistrate issued warrants for Breaking and Entering, Second Degree Kidnapping, Interfering with Emergency Communications, and Assault on a Child under 12.
Hospital police were notified that warrants were now in the system. Hospital police were asked to call the OCSO prior to discharging Hall, standard practice in cases such as this. OSCO planned to be at the hospital at the time of discharge and take Hall into custody and transport him to the magistrate’s office. There, warrants would be officially served and the magistrate would set bond and specify any other conditions of pre-trial release.
According to OCSO Chief Jamison Sykes, “The arrangement all of our area law enforcement agencies have with hospital police of ensuring the eventual arrest of a suspect after the suspect receives medical care, has been in place for decades. I cannot remember another time when it has failed.”
OCSO investigator Zach Baldwin spoke on Friday with hospital police officer Brian Ellis before Baldwin left the UNC-Hillsborough Hospital. Ellis planned to flag Hall in the hospital’s system. In the meantime, Hall’s condition worsened and he was transferred to UNC-Chapel Hill Hospital due to the severity of his wound. Ellis also told Baldwin he was calling officers at UNC-Chapel Hill Hospital to make them aware of the transfer. The charge nurse in Hillsborough was made aware Hall had pending warrants, and she was instructed to inform her counterpart in Chapel Hill.
The next morning, Saturday, Sergeant Jones from OCSO called the UNC-Chapel Hill Hospital police at 5:53 am to check on the status of Hall. Hospital police informed Jones it was shift change and they would have to call Jones back. Sergeant Polk from UNC-Chapel Hill Hospital police called Jones back at 6:26 am. He told Jones that at 8:23 pm Friday night, a nurse wrote in Hall’s chart that Hall had left the hospital against medical advice. Polk also told Jones that Hall had told the nurse he needed to leave because the police were going to be looking for him. In the phone call, it was apparent that hospital police were not aware Hall had left the hospital almost ten hours earlier until Sergeant Jones called to check on him. Sergeant Polk told Jones hospital police would review video tape and call back.
Chief Deputy Sykes said, “Our agency is very concerned about the events in this case. Effective immediately, we will institute policy changes necessary to protect the public in situations like this. We expected to be notified prior to Hall’s discharge. When Hall left the hospital Friday evening against medical advice, we certainly should have been notified. But most concerning of all is that hospital police did not even know Hall had left the premises almost ten hours prior. Indeed, Hall’s absence was only discovered when we placed a phone call to them.”
By 10 am Saturday, hospital police had not yet called OCSO back regarding their review of video. At 10:04 am, OCSO Sergeant B. Wilkerson called them to see if hospital police found any footage of Hall leaving the hospital. In this call, Wilkerson learned Hall was seen on videotape leaving the hospital at 7:54 pm wearing a hospital gown, blue socks, and carrying what appeared to be a cup of water.
Said Sheriff Blackwood, “I am not in the business of assigning blame. If you read the statement released by my office yesterday, you will see we were focused on efforts to apprehend the suspect and ask for the community’s help. However, it has become clear to me that another statement was necessary to defend the actions of my deputies and investigators and to place this matter in the correct context.”
“I would again like to stress that we are asking for the public’s help locating Mr. Hall. He is six feet tall and weighs 135 pounds. His head was wrapped in a bandage when he walked out of the hospital. The SBI and the US Marshals are assisting us in the search.”
