Valerie Hamilton, 23, has been found dead at a storage rental facility on Monroe Road. Hamilton went missing early Wednesday morning after leaving Thomas Street Tavern.
CMPD has a murder warrant out for Michael Neal Harvey, 34, whom police say was last seen with Hamilton.
Mecklenburg County records indicate an extensive arrest history for Harvey, including felony charges in March for heroin possession and possession of a firearm by a felon. State corrections records indicate that Harvey is currently on probation for September 2009 conviction for shoplifting. Harvey received 18 months probation in Iredell County.
It is unclear why Harvey received probation for that conviction considering he was already on probation for a July 2009 conviction on two felony theft counts. A Mecklenburg County court sentenced Harvey to 30 months probation for offenses committed in October 2008. In addition in May 2006 Harvey was convicted of failure to register as a sex offender, a felony. He received probation and a suspended sentence for that offense.
Jail records indicate that Harvey is originally from Niagara Falls, NY and was first arrested in Mecklenburg County in November 2008. The NC Sex Offender registry indicates that Harvey was convicted in November 1996 in Niagara County of rape and released from prison in November 2000.
Harvey’s home address was last verified in July, according to the registry. The address provided was on 15th St. in the Belmont neighborhood, near NoDa. A previous federal database registry, however, indicates that Harvey at one point lived on Pebblestone Drive, which is off of Monroe Road in East Charlotte.
Update: Looks like everyone at the UPoR went to the Lady Gaga show, went home, and passed out. Nada on this breaking story yet.
Update II: UPoR got something up five hours after WBTV first broke the story of Hamilton’s death. And of course every outlet in town has cribbed our reportage on Harvey’s criminal background without linking to it or mentioning we had it first. Typical.
Update III: Caught in Niagara Falls this AM. Something of a surprise as that is an obvious place authorities would look. Suggests whatever role Harvey may have had in Hamilton’s death — if any — this was not a carefully planned crime. Next we’ll need an autopsy report and any additional charges to know what to make of this case.
