Sounak Sengupta
Investigation Discovery’s ‘In Pursuit with John Walsh: A Broken Bond’ follows the brutal murder of 17-year-old Teylyn McAlpin in Asheville, North Carolina, in November 2020. The episode sheds light on the heinous crime, the ensuing investigation, the motive as well as how the officials are garnering public help to capture one of the still absconding perpetrators.
Teylyn McAlpin Was Fatally Shot Multiple Times
Teylyn “Tey” McAlpin was an Asheville High student soon to be a graduate, staying in Asheville, North Carolina. His mother, Javelin Duncan, reminisced about her son being a good brother and uncle. The 17-year-old was athletic and outgoing. He was also a single father to a one-year-old daughter. Hence, it came as a shock when young Tey became a victim of gun violence on a Saturday morning in November 2020.
On November 28, 2020, at around 8:30 am, the Asheville Police Department got a 911 call and responded to a shooting incident in Northern Asheville. Officers reached the scene on 90 Gay Street, near Montford baseball field and Tempie Avery Montford Center, to find a teen victim with multiple gun wounds. The responding officers performed lifesaving measures as they waited for the arrival of the paramedics; the wounded individual was taken to Mission Hospital.
However, the victim could not be saved despite the efforts of the medical staff and died later on in the hospital, succumbing to his fatal injuries. The body of the young teen was identified as Tey, and his family was informed by the police. The police are yet to reveal further details about the incident that led to Tey’s death at the hands of unknown perpetrators.
Teylyn McAlpin Was Allegedly Killed By Two Fellow Teens
A broken Javelin later revealed that she had been trying to reach her son, Tey, at the exact moment the unfortunate incident had been playing out. She said, “At 8:30 I was calling Tey, seeing where he was at and he was getting killed at that exact same time I was calling him.” The investigators had a few promising leads that led them to believe that two assailants were involved in the incident.
On December 4, 2020, a spokesperson for the APD announced that investigators had identified a 16-year-old and another teen, Dionate Whitson of Asheville, as assailants and charged them with the first-degree murder of Tey. As the pressure from Tey’s community, as well as national coverage of the incident, mounted, APD declared that they had arrested the 16-year-old charged with homicide on December 8, 2020.
The investigators were collaborating with the North Carolina Department of Public Safety – Juvenile Justice Division to bring the alleged killer into custody. Due to the juvenile status of the alleged killer, no further information was divulged by the police. However, since the other one charged with murder, Dionate, was absconding from the law, his name was made public. APD subsequently sought aid from the public to locate this suspected assailant by asking them to inform the police as soon as they saw him.
The spokesperson had also warned that Dionate should be considered possibly armed and dangerous since he was believed to be an active member of the fierce street gang Sex, Money, Murder. As per the statement, “He is charged with first-degree murder and has been known to be in possession of a weapon.” The U.S. Marshals-led Carolinas Regional Fugitive Task Force took charge of the case in December 2020, following which they offered a reward of up to $10,000 for anyone bringing information that would lead to Dionate’s arrest.
Diontae Whitson Was Taken Into Custody in 2023
As per police sources, the gang Sex, Money, Murder had taken Dionate under their production and were helping him evade law enforcement agencies. They further state that he could be residing among the homeless populations of Asheville, Greensboro, Raleigh, or Winston Salem, bouncing between the cities with the help of gang members spread across those areas. According to police sources, some female individuals serving as the financial accountants of the gang were also helping Dionate in his efforts to escape the police.
In the end, though, five days after Dionate was first sighted by local officials in Kinston, Lenoir County, he was arrested for good – it was August 10, 2023. Members of the Kinston Police Department, The United States Marshals Carolinas Regional Fugitive Task Force, and the Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office ensured his capture following a traffic stop on U.S. 70 West. From what we can tell, he was soon indicted and booked into Lenoir County Detention Center without bond, only to plead guilty to death by vehicle in an unrelated case within the week – he had killed a woman in a July 2020 car crash. Therefore, today, awaiting trial for Teylyn’s murder, he remains behind bars.
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