Driver troopers say started high-speed chase was out of jail on bond awaiting trial for 2023 murder
SPRING LAKE, N.C. (WTVD) -- The man blamed for causing a fatal crash in Cumberland County violated his house arrest when he allegedly led law enforcement on a high-speed chase Saturday.
Darren Powell, 25, was out of jail on bond due to a pre-trial agreement that put him on house arrest. That trial is a murder trial.
Investigators said Powell killed Barbara Adair on July 12, 2023. He was released from jail on bond on Oct. 27, 2023.
Just before midnight Aug. 17, 2024, a North Carolina State Highway Trooper said he clocked Powell going 110 miles per hour on NC-87. The trooper tried to pull Powell over but he kept speeding away.
Powell eventually crashed into a car making a left turn off NC-87 onto McKenzie Road in Spring Lake. The passenger in that car, Delfina Sanchez, died at the scene. The driver of the car was rushed to the hospital with significant injuries.
Powell was also hospitalized with injuries from the crash.
On Monday, Powell made his way in front of a judge, who rescinded his bond from the 2023 murder case. The judge ruled that Powell had violated his pre-trial agreement and house arrest during the high-speed chase.
Powell will have to return to the detention center when his treatment at the hospital is complete.
Powell's attorney said he entered a not-guilty plea in the 2023 murder case, and he maintains his innocence in that case.
As for the high-speed chase and deadly crash, charges are still pending.
That deadly high-speed crash happened in the same spot as another police chase just three months ago. In that crash, NC State Highway Patrol officers began chasing a suspect from Harnett County on NC-87 too.
