WAKE COUNTY, N.C. — New warrants released this week indicate a pickup truck on the side of the road began the series of events that led to the fatal shooting of a Wake County Sheriff’s Office deputy.
Details inside the warrants describe the events leading to the killing of Deputy Ned Byrd, in which two brothers are accused.
Surveillance footage from a nearby property and the camera inside Byrd’s squad car help create a timeline of what transpired the night of Aug. 11.
Documents state that Byrd was driving to the Wake County Law Enforcement Training Center when a suspicious vehicle caught his eye.
The investigator who wrote the description said Byrd was traveling on Battle Bridge Road, a dimly lit road in a rural area southeast of Raleigh.
Warrants showed Byrd was on the way to do K-9 training shortly after 11 p.m. when he saw a “lightly colored pickup truck” backed against a fence on the left side of the road.
The investigation described how Byrd stopped to check it out. Thirteen seconds after he exited his Sheriff's Office SUV, three gunshots were fired, followed by three more.
The report says one suspect, Alder Marin-Sotelo, drove away 90 seconds after the shooting. Byrd was later found by fellow deputies close to 1 a.m. on Aug. 12 with gunshot wounds to the head.
Records from cell towers located where the brothers, Alder Marin-Sotelo, 25, and Arturo Marin-Sotelo, 29, used their phones. Requests filed with major cell providers by the Sheriff's Office place the communication between the siblings in the area where Byrd was killed.
Facebook activity was also detailed in the releases as a crucial way the suspects were tracked.
Byrd’s K-9, Sasha, was in his SUV at the time of his death.
The brothers were arrested Aug. 16 in Burke County.
The FBI, State Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Marshals Service assisted in the investigation.