NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Contact: Deputy Brad Dorn, District of South Carolina
June 23, 2014
Phone: 843-495-6048
ONLINE ESCORT MURDERER CAPTURED BY U.S. MARSHALS TASK FORCE
Florence, S.C. – Brandon Daniels, 30, and Damonica Evans 25, were arrested today by the U.S. Marshals Task Force, Florence County Sheriff’s Office and Francis Marion University Police Department. Daniels and Evans were being sought for aggravated robbery and capital murder charges by the Fort Worth Police Department in Fort Worth, Texas. It is alleged that Daniels and Evans would post online escort ads on Backpage.com and when individuals contacted them they would be directed to Daniels’ address in Texas. Once they arrived, Evans would let them inside and Daniels would rob them. Daniels and Evans tried to rob the murder victim and according to statements, a shotgun went off striking the victim in the head and killing him. According to police, Daniels and Evans drove the victim to Louisiana and dumped his body into a lake. Daniels and Evans fled by bus to Atlanta, GA and the trail went cold.
Operation Intercept, the U.S. Marshals fugitive led task force in South Carolina, began working last week at the request of the Northern District of Texas Fugitive Task Force in Fort Worth, TX, to locate Daniels and Evans. Investigators developed information that Daniels had relatives in the Florence area. U.S. Marshals set up surveillance and arrested Evans at the Patriot Place Apartments on Price Road in Florence. Investigators determined that Daniels was tipped off and Evans dropped him off a few hundred yards away at an abandoned gas station in the 4700 block of East Palmetto St. prior to her arrest. Operation Intercept investigators and the Florence County Sheriff’s Office K-9 and bloodhound dog teams, along with numerous other sheriff’s deputies and Francis Marion University Police, flushed Daniels out of the woods behind the Patriot Place Apartments. Daniels was arrested without further incident. Daniels and Evans were booked into Florence County Detention Center to await extradition proceedings back to Texas.
Kelvin Washington, U.S. Marshal for South Carolina, stated, “These two individuals came halfway across the country to South Carolina and thought fleeing would provide them protection from being arrested. These arrests demonstrate the dedication to service and cooperation of multiple law enforcement agencies to end these individuals flight from justice.”
Operation Intercept, in the Florence and Myrtle Beach area, consists of members of the U.S. Marshals, Florence County Sheriff’s Office, Darlington County Sheriff’s Office, Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Hartsville Police Department, Horry County Sheriff’s Office, Myrtle Beach Police Department, Horry County Police Department, and Surfside Police Department.
Established in 1789, the United States Marshals Service is the nation’s oldest federal law enforcement agency. In fiscal 2010, the Marshals arrested more than 36,100 federal fugitives, clearing 39,400 felony warrants and arrested 11,072 sex offenders. Marshal’s Service-led task forces like South Carolina’s Operation Intercept arrested 81,900 state and local fugitives, clearing 108,200 felony warrants. Locally, Operation Intercept arrested over 2,500 South Carolina fugitives during that same period. More information about the Marshals and other South Carolina fugitives can be found on the web at www.usmarshals.gov.
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